The Ghost Prince
by eternalLament43
Summary: AU. Caught in the middle of Vladimir's evil plot to take over the Kingdom of Amity, Prince Daniel is turned into a halfghost. Now he must flee for his life, hide in the company of two new allies, and fight his way back to the throne. [DxS]
1. Missing

**Summary: **AU. Caught in the middle of Vladimir Master's evil plot to take over the Kingdom of Amity, Prince Daniel is turned into a half-ghost. Now he must flee for his life, hide in the company of two new allies, and fight his way back to the throne. DxS

**Disclaimer: **Butch and Nick own Danny and Co.

**Chapter 1: Missing**

"Ghosts! GHOSTS! Who let them in here! Get them out of my castle immediately!" King Jonathan roared as four ghosts were presented before him on the grand floor. All had bleak white-greenish faces and blue lips and were chained together by the wrists. There were two women and two men. One of the women had blonde braided hair and bore a bleak periwinkle dress and the other was clothed in scarlet clothes that resembled a pirate's and had what appeared a blue shade of hair. The men both had green hair and glowing eyes. One was rather well suited up, which meant that he had been a great warrior before he died, while the other wore spectacles and a trench robe, which meant that he had either been a medic or an alchemist.

"Your Majesty, I believe that it was you who wanted to question these ghosts on the whereabouts of your son," spoke Sir Lancer calmly. He admired his king, but he did seem rather too perturbed for his own good. He hoped that one day his heart would not take the best of him.

"Er, of course I did!" said the King. "Only a ghost would kidnap the only heir left to the throne. Now tell me where you're keeping him or I'll have your heads!"

"Jonathan, darling," the queen spoke calmly, placing a comforting hand on his arm. She was robed in a grand turquoise gown and her silver crown rested upon her brown hair. "These ghosts were brought in here because they might have seen our son, not because they're keeping him hostage."

"And if I may say so, your majesty, I doubt that having their heads would do you any good," came a snide voice as the doors to the grand hall burst open and a middle-aged man walked in wearing dark lavender robes. His gray hair was brought together in a ponytail and he smiled mischievously at the queen.

"Quite right," said Queen Madison.

"Vladie, my main advisor!" exclaimed the king in naive jubilation. His expression then sank. "I must find my son. Please, what would you suggest I do with these miscreants to make them talk?"

"I believe you may simply ask them calmly, dear king," said the advisor. He then turned to the queen. "You look as lovely as ever, your majesty."

"Why thank you, Vladimir."

"Please," he said with intrigue, "do call me Vlad."

The queen said nothing but nodded and smiled.

The tall dark man's attention once again returned to the king and the grin that he had offered the queen had now vanished and was replaced by a tortured expression at the king.

"Might I suggest you ask them what he looks like? He may be in disguise if he has run away and is in cognito," said the advisor.

"And excellent idea! Yes, most certainly," said the king excitedly. "You, ghost!" he demanded, pointing to the pathetic looking old man in the trench robe. "What did my son look like the last time you saw him?"

The ghost trembled at the question and said, stuttering, "H-He had s-some what of a white mop of hair, with glowing, poison green eye-- "

"Insolence!" yelled the king, red with rage. Vlad smirked. "Are you describing my son as some kind of despicable ghost! Take them away! The filth my ears are forced to listen to!" The queen once again attempted to calm him as Sir Lancer escorted the ghosts out of the hall.

"There, there, dear, perhaps they had simply misunderstood. They are ghosts after all, perhaps they had thought our son had passed on. A simple misunderstanding," she said soothingly.

"Impossible!" the King roared. "I refuse to even take such a fact into consideration! My boy is not dead!"

"Of course he isn't, your majesty," said Vladimir, slightly bowing. "I assure you that had he been dead our council of Observants would have certainly informed me of his death, and I assure you, they have done no such thing."

"Then could you not ask them of his whereabouts?" the queen asked.

"I'm afraid not," Vlad sighed. "They simply consider the dead ghosts and separate them from the living; they have no concern for the whereabouts of humans, which is why I am certain that Daniel is alive and well."

"Wondrous," said the queen, bringing her hands together in joy and smiling. "Then we shall await further information on our son. His life rests in your hands, now, Vladimir. Please do everything in your power to bring him back."

"Anything for you, your majesty," said the advisor and bowed down the floor.

"Bring back my son, Vladie," said the King somberly. "I never realized how much I missed him."

The queen smiled at him and Vlad glared at the exchange between the two. "Rest assured, my king. He will be found."

He flung back his lavender cape and exited the hall.

"Jack," whispered the queen quietly, "I have this...idea. I know you won't like it but, what if we sent one of those ghosts to look for Daniel? I somehow feel as if they really have seen him. Perhaps Vladimir was right. Perhaps he is wearing a disguise?"

The King's lip twitched and he took the queen's hand into her own. "You know how I feel about ghosts, Maddie. And Vlad's on the case. He'll bring him back, I promise."

"I don't know, Jack. I don't entirely trust him," she said sadly. "Maybe just in case -- "

"No," said the King sternly and got up from his throne. "I will not involve ghosts in this! They should be where they belong, in the Ghost Abode, where they're sent, but damn them if they ever escape as I know they do! Leave this to Vlad, Maddie."

The King walked away and Madison hesitated. That snide smirk, that horrible tone of voice that told her that there was some dark and evil aura about the court's main advisor. She knew Jonathan trusted him with his life, but Jack could sometimes be...well...not the best judgement.

She exited the hall and went to seek out Sir Lancer.

She made her way down into the castle dungeons where he knew he had temporarily taken the ghosts.

"Ah! Sir Lancer," she said when she'd found him spreading sulfur around the prison that they were kept in so that they couldn't get out. "May I speak to you in private?"

"Your highness, I do not wish to question your judgement, but the dungeons are no place for a fair ruler," he said, bowing at her presence.

"I'm not here to question my status, kind Sir," she said, brushing off his comment, "I am here because I still believe that one of these ghosts does in fact know the whereabouts of Prince Daniel. Please, would you mind if I interrogated them personally?"

"Your bidding is law, my queen, but I must warn you that these are ghosts. Which means that they are vicious, heartless, and have no emotions, so they may lie about your son without hesitation."  
"They have no reason to lie, they are in prison," reasoned the queen. "I will make deal with them. Please do excuse me."

"Do not say I did not warn you, my queen," Sir Lancer bowed.

"Mark me warned," said the queen and he left her alone to face the ghosts.

She walked up to them, examining them as they floated there, looking most definitely lifeless and hopeless. Their souls seemed tortured and cold.

"What is your name?" the queen spoke slowly. She picked up her dress as she walked around the cage, observing the characteristics of each ghosts. She really felt as if there was no way of knowing them; they seemed so distant.

"My name is Dorothy," the blonde girl spoke miserably. "This is Emberlie, Skulker, and Technus. Please, if you still listen to your beating heart, let us free. We never meant harm to your kingdom. We simply wish to finish that which we never accomplished in life. Being bound in a cage is tearing our souls apart. It is more difficult than coping with the loss of your son."

"I wish I could," said the queen. "But my husband's wishes are otherwise. He despises ghosts, thought to some extent I believe he misunderstands you. I don't know how I can trust you seeing as I've never really made personal contact with a ghost, but I think you know about my son. Please tell me, is he really alive?"

The ghost woman frowned at her, hope lost. "It is difficult to say. He is not a ghost, neither is he fully human. Something happened to him, that is as far as we had read from his aura. In hopes of being freed from the Ghost Abode, we hoped to tell the king of him so that he would not force us into captivity. Instead, we were betrayed by our beliefs."

"I'm sorry," said the queen, and she meant it. If only Jonathan took the time to know these ghosts, perhaps he would see them in a new light. But then again, perhaps this ghost was tricking her into feeling sympathy for her while all she really wanted to do was steal her soul and posses her body. That was what her husband was trying to stop all along, of course: ghostly possessions that had been going on in the kingdom before he became king and ordered exorcisms throughout the land.

"I will strike a deal with you," said the queen. All four ghosts looked up in hope. "If you find my son and bring him back to me, whole and alive, I will make certain you are never forced to reside within the Ghost Abode. You will be able to accomplish your tasks and move on to the afterlife peacefully as soon as you promise not to possess anyone. That much I can do for you. The king will never know and will be too overjoyed at the return of his son to banish you. You have my word. Do have I have yours?"

Something entirely surprising happened. The four ghosts smiled, and it was such a chilling sight that Madison almost considered going back on her offer until she realized that it didn't make them look all the more frightening, but alive, if that were possible.

"We will retain your son," said the ghost named Skulker. "You have our word as you chose to keep yours. We promise no harm shall come to him and will fight for his life as for our own if necessary."

The woman called Emberlie finally spoke. "I think I know just where to find him. I last felt his aura in a peasant village. He must be hiding. We will go there first but if he is not there we shall follow the trail of his aura until he is found."

Tears appeared in Madison's eyes at the sound of this. She put her hands on the bars and whispered a "Thank you." Taking a cloth, she removed the circle of sulfur around their cage and they phased through.

"Good day, my queen," said Skulker and the four bowed, fading through the walls.

She didn't know what made her trust them, but they had seemed so sincere that she dared not misjudge them. Maybe Jonathan had been wrong all along. Maybe ghosts did have some feeling in them. They couldn't be all that dead if their spirit roamed free.

She picked up her gown and walked up from the dungeon. She met Sir Lancer who was guarding the door.

"Well, my queen?" he asked her respectfully.

"Well," she said. "All is well. I have set them free to return my son. If they fail, our deal is broken and they immediately go into the Ghost Abode. I doubt they will fail."

Sir Lancer nodded and let the queen have her way.

She signed and looked out the windows of the castle.

"Be safe, my son. My Daniel."

_**I think this was definitely inspired by "Beauty Marked," but you can never be sure. I also love Maddie, so her character is going to be essential in a couple of scenes, but don't you worry, Danneh's the hero in this story. I think. Is he? Or is he the evil little scoundrel that breaks hearts and murders innocent people? Eh. I can never remember. snicker **_


	2. Fortune

**Summary: **AU. Caught in the middle of Vladimir Master's evil plot to take over the Kingdom of Amity, Prince Daniel is turned into a half-ghost. Now he must flee for his life, hide in the company of two new allies, and fight his way back to the throne. DxS

**Disclaimer: **Butch and Nick own Danny and Co.

_**Big thanks for the great reviews. I lub you! It really helps the story along. Again, thank you!**_

**Chapter 2: Fortune**

Prince Daniel sat leaning up against a tree, watching the busy village of Fernley. The prince bore dark clothing with a cloak over his head through which his eyes easily glowed, so he carefully dimmed them by slightly draping his eyelids. Not that it was a stormy day, he was simply trying to be less noticeable. But a shady figure sitting under a tree on a hill wasn't exactly what you called inconspicuous. He knew he had to get out of there for his own good. He attempted to obscure his clothing, which were that of royalty and had bright green streaks with occasional artistry and design. Definitely not inconspicuous. He decided to drape his black robe about him as much as possible and constantly had to tuck his white hair inside his hood. White hair? Glowing eyes? What the heck was he? That's what he had asked himself that morning when he had woke up slightly phasing through his bed. A ghost.

A half-ghost to be precise, but he didn't know how to turn back to his human half yet. Heck, he was happy he could at least keep himself solid for now. And they were looking for him. His parents. They would never understand, they would hate him, he knew. That's what Vlad said. He had run to his father's advisor immediately, knowing he could be the only one that could possibly help.

_"My dear boy,"_ Vladimir had said to him. _"Don't you recognize this is a gift? Why, you're practically the most unusual thing I've ever seen! Not ghost, not human! By God, you're half-dead! I'm sure your father would be fascinated, don't you think? With his love of ghosts and all. Why don't you show yourself and remove that hood?"_

_"No! I refuse for anyone to see me like this. And he doesn't love ghosts," Daniel replied. "Do you not know him? Are you mocking me in my hour of need! I mean, what am I!"_

_Vlad smirked at him. "I am simply trying to point out the obvious to you, Daniel. And it is clear to me by your form that you must have half-died in your sleep. I can sense your aura, you are not a full ghost. So this is what I suggest: flee. You might still have a life ahead of you, but you won't be safe here any longer. If your father finds out what you are, he'll tear you apart. I've known Jonathan since my childhood, and I can honestly say that your father would sacrifice his own son just to be rid of another ghost. Run away, Daniel, run!"_

_His heart thumped wildly at these words and he took one last look at Vlad's sneering face, turned intangible, and escaped the castle._

_"Good boy."_

Daniel lifted himself and began to walk toward the village, turning himself invisible. Keeping his invisibility was still difficult for him, however, so he had to spare it if he could. If anyone saw a ghost walking about alone they would surely call the royal guards. He could still remember his father's enthusiasm as he boldly told him that one day he would grow up and the land would be free of ghosts entirely, but perhaps before that he would have the honor of catching one himself. How was this for irony: now he was a ghost himself.

Daniel signed and phased through the nearest pub he could find. Materializing in a dark corner so that no one saw him come in, he knew he would not need to eat anything while he was in his ghost form. Actually, he could have sworn that he wasn't breathing at the moment. Heart rate: stopped. Weight of his body: father-light. Yes, he was certainly half-dead. He honestly shouldn't remind himself so much. The only reason he really was there was to hear what everyone was saying about his mysterious disappearance. Everyone must be looking for the prince by now, but as long as he was in his ghostly form, he doubted anyone knew what he was.

He took a seat at the deserted table and at first tried to ignore the uprising in the pub, but slightly turned his head to observe, making sure to drape his eyes.

"Do you honestly know what you're saying, girl!"

"Ghosts suck blood and devour souls, they have no feeling. They are the living dead!"

"How dare you mock the King of Amity!"

"Listen to me -- this isn't right! Would you like your soul taken and dragged off to some...some forbidden land once _you_ died! These are spirits, just like us, only without a body! Well, at least a living body. And they need our help so that they can continue with their lives, not be pushed away. Not all ghosts are evil! Don't you understand that the number of ghosts has been accumulating because they haven't been passing on! I've even heard that they're killing them now, forcing them to go on! How cruel is that!"

Daniel did not see the face of the young woman speaking these words, but she seemed very determined. He wished he could be that brave in telling his parents what he really was. Then again, he'd probably get the same response as she.

"HA!" a round man yelled. "Kill a ghost? Woman, you are more twisted than your own tongue. Cease your infernal nonsense before you are asked to leave!"

"Too late! Get out, wench!"

"Leave, witch! I bet you're even possessed, aren't you?"

"I am not possessed!" she yelled.

"That's what they say before they drop dead. Now get out!"  
"All right, I will!"

Daniel shifted in his seat to watch a girl with raven black hair to her shoulders wearing a torn brown dress stomp furiously out of the bar. She looked to be a peasant, and probably was, he reasoned. Before she left however, she seemed to stop and slowly looked in his direction. Why did she notice him all of a sudden? Was it that aura that Vlad had been talking about? He didn't remove his gaze from her, but kept his eyes draped. She blushed when he didn't look away and turned to leave and shut the door behind her.

He wondered what made her stand up for ghosts. Did she really care?That seemed rather foolish of her, he noted.He continued to isolate bits and pieces of conversations for further news.

"...of course the Prince ran away, love, who wouldn't with a king so crazed to capture every ghost in the land? As if that's possible..."

"...I think he killed himself. Couldn't live with it, ya know, too spoiled..."

"...well of course he's married! And if he isn't, I'm sure he's a fanciable catch. Just imagine marring the Prince of Amity!..."

"...boy had black hair, blue eyes. That's what I heard from one of the cooks at the palace. Tall lad, not too thick around the bones..."

"...well ya shood know not tah mess wit a sorcerer. Aye bet he's made 'im diss'pear. Alw'ys knew dar be summat in dat castle unholy..."

"...what are they gonna do without another heir? They married the girl off and now the son is missing. There's trouble if I smelled any..."

Daniel had heard enough. Unseen, he phased out of the pub and wondered where he should go next. He needed a plan. Vlad said that he may have a chance at starting his life over again. How would he manage that? He still didn't know how to turn back to human. He needed to see someone. Like a palm reader, or a ghost, if he could find one. The only problem was that if he met a ghost, he would most certainly meet a ghost hunter. He had always laughed at legends such as the Grimm brothers, but he knew that hired hunters were often about from his father's castle. He needed a place to go and fast. He had to keep reminding himself to walk, not float, as he made his way through the streets. Perhaps there would be something there that caught his eye.

Then he saw her, a fortune teller. He contemplated going up to her and asking her for help, but he was afraid that she'd know that he was the prince and turn him in. He'd seen the reward signs everywhere with his picture on them. Not even a good one, mind that. Well, he could always phase away at the last moment if she did try to pull something on him. He figured it was worth a shot.

He came up to her and covered his mouth as he spoke, knowing a cold chill must perspire from his body. "Are you a Reader?"

She smiled at him. She had long black hair, somewhere in her thirty's, and was clothed in turquoise rags.

Unexpectedly, he looked down at his mouth as the a blue mist emerged from it. How was that possible? He didn't need to breathe anymore.

He furrowed his brow and asked, "Who are you?"

She gestured for him to follow her into her mystic's tent.

"I am Desiree," she spoke once he was inside. "And you need not fear. I am a ghost almost like yourself. The only reason I stay here is because I am able to tell people their fortunes, and they tend to find loopholes against the king's orders for me. You see, they find me useful; tell them if they'll die tomorrow or not."

"I see," said the prince, finally unwrapping himself from his cloak, which fell back, allowing him to stand his full height. His white hair fell on his glowing green eyes and, with the cloak pulled back, he revealed black robes with white checked patterns on his shirt and green embroidery around his belt.

"Prince Daniel," she said, bowing low to him.

"N-No, don't," he said, insisting she get up. "You don't need to do that. I'm not really the prince right now."

"Ah, but you are," she said, sitting down behind her table which bore a crystal ball.

"What do you mean?" he said, sitting down opposite of her.

She motioned for him to give her his hand. "You're gravely troubled," she said in a mystic's tone. "You fear that you have failed your father. But there is much distress ahead. Your father will fall very ill."

"What!" He pulled his hand back. "How?"

She scowled at him. "Perhaps if you do not whisk your hand back, I can tell you."

He hesitated and then gave it back to her. Her expression intensified as she stared into his palm. "Yes," she said. "you are definitely the future king, but there is one who means to stand in your way, who wants you dead."  
"My father?" he said cluelessly, shrugging and considering his father now wanting his head since he became ghost.

She looked up at him. "Stupidity will get you no where. No, it is another. Come! The crystal ball will reveal all!"

She pulled the robes back from her arms and placed his hand onto the ball. She removed her hands and observed the orb. He leaned in so that he could witness it for himself as well. His hand began to glow green and he saw the blankness of the ball turn into green smoke. Desiree's eyes widened in admiration.

Daniel watched as a figure came into view. Who was it? He saw the figure approach something that looked like a bed. Wait a minute, that was his chamber, his bed! And he was sleeping in it. He saw as the figure help up a scepter and whispered something. A large green glow absorbed him and there was a flash.

Daniel took a sharp breath. "That was last night! That was just then! When I was -- I was...turned into a ghost? I didn't die, did I? Someone _did_ something to me? But who?"

"Watch," Desiree whispered strictly.

Daniel obeyed and saw the figure walk out of his room. The vision followed him.

_"Vladimir? What are you doing up in the dead of night?" _came his mother's voice.

_"Queen Madison," _said Vlad, bowing. _"Forgive my impudence, but I was simply patrolling the hall. I could have sworn I heard someone stumbling about."_

_"Of course,"_ she said, in a somewhat make-believe tone. She didn't seem to buy his lie._ "Be well, I...must return to bed. Goodnight."_

_"Goodnight my queen,"_ said the man and proceeded his stroll, his lavender robe chasing him down the stairs.

Daniel looked up in shock and saw the Reader look at him meaningfully.

"Vlad? He's behind this! But he told me -- I trusted him! He was -- he was my father's best friend! And he turned me ghost so I would run away and he could kill my father!" He stood up so abruptly that it shook the entire table and Desiree had to hold the crystal ball steady to keep it from rolling off the table and breaking.

"Life does not always choose our friends for us," she said softly. "For example, my dead lover promised me that he would give me anything my heart desired and more seeing as he loved me so. But there was another. And so my heart was broken. And stopped."

"Do you think I care about your stupid heart right now? What do I do about Vlad!"

She looked at him as if she expected his outburst, but no less offended.

"I -- " he had suddenly realized how insensitive he had just been to the only woman who could offer him advice and wasn't sure how to apologize. "Er...sorry. I didn't mean --"

"It is alright," she said, thought somewhat dryly. "You are suffering and you are panicked. And you have yet to go on your quest. Therefore, I will help you. Your father will soon be ill due to this man's great evil, but there is nothing you can do about that -- "

"Why not? Why can't I just go up to the castle and stop him?"

"Because he is not what you think he is! He is not mortal. He is a sorcerer. A very powerful sorcerer. And you cannot kill him. There is an object that can, however. I will not speak of this object, for I do not know what it is. Only you must discover for yourself what that object is and what connection it has to you. It will be of deep meaning and significance. You must also find a remedy for your father's illness. Do you know of any powerful medics?"

Daniel was panting at her words; he most certainly did not want to sit around and wait for that snake to make his father ill while all he could do is have some kind of ludicrous enlightenment that would reveal some kind of stupid object to him. He then considered her last words.

"Yes, my sister," he said. "But she is in another kingdom."

"Then you must go to your sister and ask her for the remedy," she said, nodding once. "The quest will be perilous, however. I need you pick four of these twelve cards. If, of course, you want your father to live."

"Yes I want him to live!"

"Pick the cards, then," she told him, folding out the deck. He pointed to four random cards and they floated out of her hands and onto the table. Unwillingly, a fifth card joined them on the table. She looked at it strangely. "Interesting," she said. "Not as I thought." He looked at her quizzically and she flipped over one of the cards.

"You will face four ghosts," she told him, "and, apparently, one hunter. Each will be different and each will teach you a separate lesson."

"Lesson? I don't need lessons, I didn't sign up for knight school, I need to find a remedy to cure my father!"

"Do you not want to find the object that will destroy Vladimir?" she said, cockling an eyebrow.

He sighed in agitation. "Yes," he said darkly.

"Then you will accept their challenge. Should they win any of your battles, you will be returned to the castle where Vladimir is sure to kill you and all who stand in his way to dominating the kingdom. You need this object, so you must not fail. It will not be simple."

"Of course it won't," he said dully. Was anything ever simple?

"The tasks will question your courage, ability to overcome temptation, strength, and wisdom," she said, flipping over each card that had markings unknown to him. "And your final will be a test of humanity."

"How quaint," he said, wrinkling his nose. Just what he needed.

"Should you fail, I repeat, the kingdom will fall to darkness."

"Oh, so the fate of pretty much everyone in the Kingdom of Amity rests in my hands?"

"You do want to be king, don't you? Did you think it would be all carnivals and games? Now I have told you everything there is to say and you should begin your quest. Unless of course, you plan to flee?"

"No," he said monotonously.

"Good," she said. "Then you should be on your way." He placed a gold coin on the table and she escorted him out of her tent as he once more wrapped himself in his robe.

"One more thing," she said as he turned to leave.

He turned to look at her. "You will meet two strangers. Do not take their company for granted. They will save your life -- or your afterlife, I suppose -- on more than one occasion."

He wondered what kind of strangers she was talking about but nodded, dimmed his eyes once more, and exited the tent.

A woman robed in knight's clothing passed through the street, her horse at her side as she scanned the market. Her eyes darted past a fortune teller's tent until she saw a hooded figure emerge from it and walk away.

She smirked to herself. "There you are, ghost. I knew I sensed you."

"_**Knight school." chuckles Oh, I kill myself. Or Vlad. If you may be wondering as to what age Daniel is in this story, he's right about 21, so you can pretty much guess everyone else's age just by knowing that. We also get our first glimpse of Samantha. Don't worry you'll see her and her friend soon enough. Daniel can't really stay alive long without them. And if you still can't figure out who the woman with the horse is, you'll have to wait until next time. All shall be revealed in time. **_


	3. Amber

**Summary: **AU. Caught in the middle of Vladimir Master's evil plot to take over the Kingdom of Amity, Prince Daniel is turned into a half-ghost. Now he must flee for his life, hide in the company of two new allies, and fight his way back to the throne. DxS

**Disclaimer: **Butch and Nick own Danny and Co.

_**I appreciate your reviews all too much! At this rate I'll have the story done in no time!**_

**Chapter 3: Amber**

Vladimir stood by the Queen's chamber, inhaling the sweet sent that escaped the room. If only he could surpass the barred door that separated him from his beloved. He knew that Maddie had freed the ghosts in search of Daniel. His love was very intuitive. She didn't trust him, and he knew what good reason she would have for doing so if she knew what he really was. But none of that would matter as soon as that idiot King Jack was out of the way.

He had hired Valerie to hunt down the child and murder him unconditionally. He had even given her his scepter; he trusted her with it. If there was anyone competent in really killing that ghost, he knew that girl could. And she had enough rage built within her to do so. After all, her very father was murdered by ghosts. Or, he was murdered by Vlad and said to be killed by ghosts, but no one really kept track of these things.

Valerie would find the boy before the four spirits that Maddie had sent and he would no longer have to worry about the heir. And he couldn't have simply killed him, of course. Daniel's ghost might have returned to the castle and informed them all of his plans. It was not a risk he was willing to take. If he killed him and his ghost, however, that was a different story. Not that he had really considered the murder until now. He hated the fact that he had to kill the boy off; he would have made a fine son and apprentice. If only he could teach him everything he knew, he would be unstoppable! Unfortunately, he took after the ridiculous heart of his father. And he would stand in the way of his power over the kingdom. But the boy had a dark streak in him, he knew. That's why he decided to turn him into a half-ghost. He would never be able to figure out how to turn into a human and would be sent into the Ghost Abode before he could evenstand a fighting chance. As long as he stayed isolated and lost, he was cursed.

Vlad smiled to himself at his accomplishment. He pulled a vile from under his cloak that contained an acid pink liquid.

"Soon that fool will finally stop muttering on about ghosts. If only he knew what useful minions they could be once they are placed under the proper spell. Which I'll retain in due time, of course. No matter, when I am finally king with Maddie at my side, I will rule this kingdom with the upper hand that Jack never had!"

He laughed cruelly and detached himself from the perimeter of the chamber. Things were going all too well for him, and he couldn't blame them. He was very successful at his evil deeds and soon all of Amity would bow before him!

Madison held a hand to her mouth after what she heard. Someone had been at her door. And she had heard every word of what he said. _"When I am finally king with Maddie at my side, I will rule this kingdom with the upper hand that Jack never had!"_

Who could plot such a terrible thing? If it hadn't been for the thickness of her door, she would have heard the tone of voice more precisely. She cursed it. Someone was going to kill her husband, her king! She had to stop him. She scrambled out of bed immediately but then stopped. And what of it? Who would she go to? If she told Jack it would do no good, he would simply panic or dismiss it as a nightmare. What could she probably say? She knew he would never believe her.

Instead, she quickly grabbed her grey robe and wrapped it around her. She knew of one person who would know what to do. Vladimir.

As much as she didn't trust him, she knew he had always been loyal to the family. It was he that had advised Jack to create the Ghost Abode, it was he who had suggested the arranged marriage between Jazmine and Prince Elliot so that their kingdoms could forever be in harmony, and he that constantly consulted her and her husband in his time of need. Perhaps Jack was right, perhaps it was finally time to start trusting the man. He had never done anything she'd known to hurt them, after all. She needed to give him a second chance.

And so, her feet light on the cold stone floor, she descended to the east side of the castle, to Vladimir's study. _I really should start calling him Vlad; too long a name._

She knocked on his study softly. It was a maroon door, with gold lining, and seemed slightly too fancy for a study entrance, but she shrugged it off. She wasn't here to judge him, she was in desperate need of advice. And he was the head advisor. That made sense.

"Vlad?" she said quietly. There was no reply. She reached for the handle and found that the door was open. Slowly, she pushed and looked inside. She had never been inside this man's study, and it rather amazed her that it really wasn't all that special. There were a couple of strange maps on the walls with some swords and paintings of different designs hanging on the walls. The feel of the room was lavender and she soon began to wonder if the man obsessed with the color. She softly walked inside tentatively, afraid of being taken by him sitting somewhere in the corner watching her.

What gave her the most interest was the different patterns of stones that lay on his desks along with some viles of different liquids. Was he an alchemist? If so, he had never told her. Not that she knew him all too well.

Curiosity getting the best of her, she softly passed her fingers along the stones and was startled to find them warm. From the corner of her eye she saw what looked like a goblet caressing a large amber gem. She turned to it, almost dying to touch it, to know what the gorgeous gem felt like under the pillows of her fingers. It was one color and yet it had every color swirled into it, both light and dark. Nothing could make her eyes look away. She was inches from placing her hand onto it when she suddenly heard footsteps coming down the hall and she knew that she was found. She cursed herself for entering the study when she clearly shouldn't have. Looking around, she searched frantically for a place. Somewhere, anyplace...

Vlad stopped as he approached his study. The door was slightly a jar, which was not the way he left it. He frowned and hastily stepped inside, darting his eyes about the room. It seemed empty. His eyes then snapped to the stones on his desk. He leaned in to look at them closely and smirked. He then looked a the large amber gem and grinned even broader. He turned sharply as if expecting to see someone standing there.

"I know you're in here, Queen Madison," he said in a haunting tone. "Please, I do not mean to frighten you. I know the mysterious of my study is quite intriguing. There is no need to hide." He ended speaking softly, hoping she would give into his plead. His head snapped again as he saw something in the open window. He stepped toward it cautiously and then immediately looked outside. Nothing. His head snapped left and right, still nothing. He suddenly looked up to see pigeons rustling on the roof, which meant --

He turned around friskily, but saw the doors even more ajar then they were. She had managed to escape from him, but it would most definitely be the last time. Rest assured, it would be the last time.

Madison sat nervously on her thrown, dressed and pampered, as she waited for Jack to come downstairs so that they may hear of the news that Sir Lancer had for them. All the meanwhile she was desperately trying to avoid the glare of Vladimir Masters. She was embarrassed for being caught searching through someone else's quarters. She was a queen, after all, and she couldn't begin to imagine the amount of fluster it would have caused her if Vlad had actually found her in his study.

She kept recalling that amber gem. Something about it seemed so familiar, almost as if she'd held it close to her for all of her life. She craved to know where Vlad had gotten it from and she craved the gem itself. It's beauty had mesmerized her and she wanted to recall exactly to what slur of color it had appeared. She longed to see the gem, but she couldn't return to his study. If he caught her again, she would have no excuse. Would she confess at being mesmerized by a simple rock? Oh but it was no simple rock. It was a luring, intoxicating precious element. There must be a way that she could have it for herself. She had to have it. She couldn't steal it, but something told her she was meant to be the possessor of that gem. It was as if it had been calling to her. She could almost feel the smooth of it's surface brushing up against her fingers and rushing electricity through her spine even though she had not gotten the chance to touch it. She would return. She would find a way to observe the stone once more.

"Maddie. Maddie? My queen, does something trouble you?"

Madison suddenly snapped out of her reverie and turned to see Jack finally sitting next to her. He took a sip from his cup as he watched her quizzically. She beamed and shook her head. She didn't need to got back to that rock, she needed to get it out of her head.

"To their majesties," Sir Lancer said, presenting Jack with a scroll that bore a blue seal on it.

"It's from Jazmine!" Madison exclaimed happily. They hadn't heard from their daughter for quite some time.

King Jonathan unrolled the scroll and skimmed through it. He smiled somewhat sadly and then read it aloud.

"_Dear Mother and Father, Affairs in the Kingdom of Casper could not be better. My judgement has been proved fair and accepted by the people. I believe they have finally come to see me as their true queen. And a good queen. At least, I am trying my best. King Elliot has been off on a number of expeditions. I doubt he will be returning soon, but I do not seem to find myself to care. The arranged marriage has allowed me to rule the kingdom myself. He has been very kind in requesting that I should have anything my heart desired. He does not seem at all to mind what I do as long as I am fair at keeping the castle and I am happy. He really is very admirable but he can be foolish. I know he's hiding a lot of affairs from me, but I can honestly say that I do not mind. What is of my concern are the people. They are my happiness, and right now, I am exceedingly happy. You have given me everything I've ever wanted, Mother and Father, and I dually thank you for this opportunity. I am finally able to run my own kingdom. It's comforting to know that you are loved by your people and I hope that Daniel is well on his way to becoming the little king that I know he will be. Send him my love. As to you. Adieu._"

"I suppose that by now news of her brother may have already reached, so there would be no point to writing a reply," said Madison.

"You wouldn't suppose, your majesties, that it is possible Daniel might have run to the Kingdom of Casper to see his sister?" said Sir Lancer.

The King and Queen momentarily considered this.

"Quite possible," said the king. "After all, we must always keep up a positive outlook. Perhaps we shall hear from her once more and she will inform us that he has been in her company. After all, we know Jazmine. If anything she would inform us as soon as she knew, even if he told her not to. She would know we would be worried."

The queen nodded.

Vlad watched the exchange between the three. _Pathetic fools. How desperately they are trying to locate their lost son, yet never will. And now my plan unfolds. It has begun._

Sir Lancer bowed and left the King and Queen. Queen Madison kissed her husband on her cheek and excused herself. She walked out of the hall and then paused to wait for Vladimir to exit.

When she heard the sound of his footsteps she turned around to see him watching her.

"Vlad," she said softly. "I must speak with you."

"Of course, my queen," he said, bowing slightly.

"No need to be formal," she said, smiling. "In private, if you please."

She led him by the arm into a nearby library and slightly closed the door behind them.

She turned to see him and said, "First I must apologize. I had come to find you at your study earlier and you had not been there so I may have trespassed out of my wicked curiosity, but I assure you, I will do my best to never violate your privacy again."

"Your curiosity is simply blossoming, Maddie, never wicked," he told her calmly.

"You're too kind, good Sir," said Maddie, turning from him.

"Something troubles you, Maddie?" he asked. She was about to turn and speak to him of her troubles when the sound of sudden commotion and yelling startled the two and they made their way out of the library and into the grand hall.

Madison felt her heart fall to her stomach. King Jonathan was sprawled on the floor and Sir Lancer and Lady Paulina were next to him, attempting to wake him. She began to run toward him, but Vlad caught her by the arm. She met his stern gaze in puzzlement and he spoke calmly, "Leave it to them, Maddie --"

"It's Queen Madison, if you please," she said through her anger and tears.

"Queen Madison, a thousand apologias -- your concern will not help him. He has a heart condition. He's had one for quite some time. I alone have known."

She swallowed these words carefully and stood there with Vlad's grim on her arm. She waited with bated breath until suddenly Jack seemed come into his conscious state. She yelped and Vlad was forced to release her. She ran up to him as she and the others helped him back into the throne.

"I'm...fine...Maddie," he gasped. "I guess...all that worry...over Daniel...I...I'm not myself. I'll be...fine..." His heavy panting suggested otherwise.

Vlad stood with his arms folded behind him. _Yes, your worry over Daniel is most encouraging. It certainly makes things a lot easier._

Madison hovered over her husband, holding his clammy face in her hands.

"Oh, Jack, don't scare me like that! Please...I've been so worried..."

She turned to Sir Lancer. "Please, can you not find him a medic?"

"Immediately, your majesty. He is already on his way. His name is Bertrand."

Vlad's smirk turned into a crooked smile as he stood in the shadows.

She nodded in apprehension.

_Most encouraging indeed._

_**Uhm. I am made of evil. That's what Vlad would say. He is, though, and he's really pretty much fooling everyone. He's quite good at that. This won't be a story where I'll constantly be going back and forth between the castle and what's happening to Danny, though. This is a subplot, so it's not like it's a fun-for-all skip-around-the-rosie. No, once the plot gets going (which it should relatively soon) it will mostly be about Daniel. But it's very important that I mention the affairs at the castle as well every once in a while, just so that things make sense. **_


	4. Truce

**Summary: **AU. Caught in the middle of Vladimir Master's evil plot to take over the Kingdom of Amity, Prince Daniel is turned into a half-ghost. Now he must flee for his life, hide in the company of two new allies, and fight his way back to the throne. DxS

**Disclaimer: **Butch and Nick own Danny and Co.

**Chapter 4: Truce**

A dark skinned young man was running frantically through the busy streets of the market. He held a piece of parchment rolled up in his right hand and panted heavily as he searched the streets for a girl in a tattered brown dress.

He spotted her sitting on the steps of a pub, and what looked like crying, and giddily jumped up in exclamation.

"Sam!" he yelled through the crowd, which was slowly pulling him down the street. She looked at him and quickly wiped her tears, grinning.

"Excuse you!" he said to a large man that had rudely pushed past him. He squeezed through the crowd toward her. "If I could just -- do you mind -- I'm walking here! -- Hey! Watch it!"

Samantha laughed at his pathetic attempt to make an impression on the people who obviously considered him no more than an ant.

He finally got through to over where she was, but tripped and fell at the last moment. Still laughing, she helped her friend up, who was wearing a dirty gold shirt with brown trousers, a torn red cape, and, most notably, a bright red hat.

"Not...funny!" he said as she lifted him onto his feet. He was panting from running and shoved the parchment in front of her face. "Sam! Look at this!...The prince...is missing!"

"So?" she said scowling, and pushed it out of her face so she could unroll it and look at it.

"Why should I care if some snobby little father's boy is -- ?"

She stared at the paper with at a sketch of the prince and a sum of money for his safe return. His dark features formed obvious shadows across his face, which was mostly hidden behind a black mop of hair. It was a handsome prince -- er, she meant price.

She blushed slightly at her thought and rolled it up again, shoving it back at her friend.

"What of it, Tucker?"  
"I'll tell you what of it!" he said jubilantly, finally catching his breath. "We find the prince, and we'll be rich! And we'll have our honor back!"

She stroked her chin for a moment, pondering. "Or, I have a better idea," she said seriously. "We find the prince and exchange him for something far more valuable. We tell them to let the ghosts free!"

Tucker cocked his eyebrow. He really looked forward to the money idea much better. After he had befriended Samantha and joined her protest for ghost rights, he had been forced to leave his village, just like her. Apparently they were an embarrassment. Not that he really cared, but he did miss his bed! And he really was sick and tired of convincing stubborn people that ghosts weren't all bad. Not that it wasn't for a good cause, it just seemed pointless.

"We'll have our honor back!" he said, smiling.

"And we'll free the ghosts!"

"And we'll have our honor back!"

She grimaced at him. "But, _most importantly,_ we'll free the ghosts. Right, Tucker?" she said through gritted teeth.

He gave a nervous laugh. "R-Right."

He had to admit, at times he wondered if he still hung out with her because he wanted to help her or because he was plain scared of her.

Samantha got up from where she was sitting on the stone steps and the two began to walk down a shady alley so to avoid the busyness of the market. Both were contemplating on how they should begin their plan until they heard a commotion in another part of the market and ducked at what appeared a wab of energy flying toward them running through the building behind them.

They both looked at each other with meaningful glances and ran toward the place where it seemed the disturbance had come from. Samantha went in front of him when they were in proximity of the sight and, seeing the commotion, she held a hand back, signaling for him to stop, but his inattentiveness caused her to bump into her.

"Tucker!"

"Sorry," he whispered. She pulled him and herself down behind a market stand as she watched a group of people standing around what looked like a man in a black cape floating in the air and a woman with a scepter pointing at him threateningly.

Samantha gasped as he slowly lifted her head up enough to see what was happening. He was a..._ghost._

"I already told you, ghost!" the woman yelled, "Either you're coming with me, or you're going to hell. Take your pick."

"Hmm," he said mockingly. "I pick hell."

She scoffed and aimed the scepter at him, at which a lavender ball of energy shot in his direction, but he smoothly avoided it by falling back without hesitation. People gasped as he continued to lean back until he phased slightly through the earth and then back up again, forming green energy in his own hand and shooting it up at her.

"Aaah!" She was forced back against the building near which Samantha and Tucker were both hiding and they jumped.

The ghost smirked and Samantha held her breath as she caught a glimpse of his face. He had what appeared somewhat white hair and glowing green eyes, but the rest was obscured by a black cloak. She had seen that gaze somewhere else, she knew, it looked too familiar. Why couldn't she place it?

Just then, she saw him turn his back and begin to leave, but the woman with the wand had now leapt up in anger and aimed the staff at his back. She was going to kill him, Samantha knew. That was no ordinary scepter.

"Don't shoot!" she yelled and Tucker's eyes grew wide as he said "Sam!" in warning and attempted to hold her back, but she was too quick and came between the huntress and the ghost.

"Out of my way!" the woman yelled, still not brining down the scepter.

"NO!" said Samantha, who spread her arms before the ghost and the crowd held back their breath.

Daniel turned around at the sound of her voice. It was the girl from the pub. He should have probably seen this coming, but that did not mark him any less surprised.

"Woman, you're mad! He's a ghost, he shouldn't be amongst people! Now get out of the way so I can kill it!"

"No," Samantha repeated. "You can't."

"Give me a reason," she said, still aiming the scepter without a budge.

"You c-can't because he's...he's..." She searched her mind rapidly for a good excuse. _Come on, come on,...think of something._

"He's my brother -- "

"He's my fiancé -- "

Samantha was startled as Tucker took his place by her side. They had both spoken up for him at the same time.

Daniel, standing behind them, rolled his eyes. _Oh, they were suave._

The woman scowled. "You expect me to believe that?"

They both shook their heads violently.  
"So he's your brother?" she said with a slight laugh, pointing to the dark skinned man.

He blushed and said, "Half. Half-brother."

She then pointed to Samantha. "And your fiancé? You don't look in the state to be married."

The crowd laughed and Samantha turned scarlet. "Well, that's because he's dead, isn't it? Now leave him alone so we can say our goodbyes and he won't bother you again."

The woman growled and lowered the scepter. "Fine," she spat, thought she did not seem fine with it at all. She was looking forward to ridding the world of one more ghost.

Samantha and Tucker both let out a sigh of relief and nervously turned to the ghost, who was standing behind them, arms folded. His eyebrow shot up.

"Er, h-hello _darling_," she said in a nervous and false tone, watching the crowd muttering around her.

"Hey _brother_," said Tucker winking. They walked him away from the crowd. When they were a good several feet from the scene, the woman had still been watching them carefully.

Samantha turned back to look at the ghost. "You should ru-- "

But they both yelped as the ghost had grabbed them by their waists and lifted them in the air.

"Hey!" the woman yelled, running after them. "Get back here! You _traitors_ to the king!" She made a pathetic attempt at a shot with her scepter, but they were well out of reach by then.

Valerie lowered her weapon and furiously stomped into the ground. "Damn! I can't believe I let them get away!"

"The prince. He was here, where is he?"

She turned at the deep voice. There, behind her, floated four ghosts. She turned her septor around at them. "Now I have new prey."

The ghost smirked at her. "Waste not. We're under the protection of the queen. We too seek out the ghost prince."

"Then do you know where I may find him?" she asked.

He laughed in return. "Fool, he was here a moment ago. Can you not sense his aura? It is not full ghost."

Her eyes snapped wide. "No," she whispered. "You mean to tell me I just let _Prince Daniel_ get away! WHAT!" She brought the scepter around and fried a basket of fish that was standing beside her.

"I _will_ find you again, Prince," she spat, looking up in the direction where he had set off. "Now that I know what you look like."

"Don't waste your energy," spoke another one of the four ghosts. "It is our mission to bring him back so that we may win back our freedom."

She laughed and turned to face them. "Don't be so sure. Unlike you, I seek out to kill him. I'll make sure I get to him before you do. The day I let a ghost have its freedom is the day I turn against Vladimir Masters! Therefore, never! Now get out of my sight. The ghost prince is mine!"

Samantha and Tucker's eyes widened as they watched the village grow smaller and smaller below them and the landscapes that came into view. Samantha looked up at the ghost. He was looking straight ahead of him with an unrecognizable expression on his face. Where _had_ she known him from? He seemed very tense and she felt herself shiver at the cool air that he gave off. His freezing arm around her didn't help either.

They flew silently until she noticed that he had began to slow down and descend toward what looked like an empty field. He brought them down onto the ground near a shady tree and let them loose.

Tucker stumbled back from him, looking at him with eyes wide. Samantha was at a loss of words. Neither of them had really been that close to a ghost before.

He turned to face his back to them, folding his arms behind them. "My name is Daniel," he spoke in a cold tone.

"S-Samantha," she said breathlessly.

"Tucker," said the other man. "Hey, isn't Daniel the name of that prince -- ?"

He was cut off as the ghost turned to face him with a deadly glare. Daniel tilted his head and smirked. "Do I _look _like a prince to you? I'm a ghost."

Tucker shook his head in fear. "N-Not at all. In fact, I wasn't suggesting anything. You could almost say I don't exist. Yep, pretty much invisble where I come from -- "

Daniel's face fell and Tucker yelped, snapping his hand to his mouth in realization of what he had just said.

Samantha sighed in agitation, "Don't pay any attention to him. He's a nervous wreck."

"Hey!" said the man called Tucker.

Daniel's head wondered over to the girl. Her face was weary with dirt smudged all over it as if she hadn't had a bath in days. Somehow, however, he couldn't help but note that if she washed it off, it would reveal a somewhat graceful visage.

"I offer you my thanks," said the prince in an emotionless tone. "I would have been killed had you not stood up for me. It was most...most..._kind_ of you." He struggled with the word and adjusted his collar uncomforably. He wasn't used to speaking this way with mere commoners.

"No problem," said the girl. She avoided his gaze. After a while, the silence had returned, which turned into awkwardness, which turned into Tucker swaying on the spot, Samantha attempting to meet the ghost's glare, but constantly looking away, and Daniel contemplating on his thoughts.

These must be the two strangers that Desiree had told him about. Which meant he shouldn't leave their sight. He needed them now that he had that huntress chasing him. And that scepter – where had she gotten it from? At first he was slightly startled when he had seen her come after him, but he wasn't really worried until she shot a blast of energy at him from the staff.

"My apologies," he said, turning his back to them once more, "I haven't given you an explanation. I was afraid that had I left you at the market she may have imprisoned you for treason." That was a lie, he had considered nothing of the like. In fact, he was going to leave them behind if it hadn't been for his recollection of the mystic's words.

"Hey, thanks!" said Tucker brightly.

"I told you not all ghosts were back, Tuck," said Samantha in a glad tone.

Daniel smirked at their conversation behind him. They were fools to think such things, everyone knew ghosts were evil. Not that he was evil, but since he was a ghost he had an excuse to be manipulative. He had to get through this quest, after all, and he needed their help. He had to use them to his advantage, and it would all be too easy to do so. He already had them on his good side.

He still did not know enough of their intentions, however.

"What brings you to Fernley?" he asked them, still not turning around. He didn't want them to see any sort of expression on his face; he needed to go about this as cleverly as possible.

"Well," Samantha began sadly, "we had to escape our village because people were threatening us, saying that we were possessed because we wanted to help ghosts. We came here in search of recruiting allies. I guess we haven't been vary successful."

"That's when I got the idea that we look for the Prince of Amity," said Tucker, trying to sound wise. "He's got a bit of a sum on him. So I thought, that would help. Maybe people wouldn't shove us around anymore."

"_And_," said Samantha sternly, "we could trade him for the freedom of ghosts to the king and queen. You haven't heard anything of him, have you?"

Daniel smirked. How perfect. He couldn't ask for a better pair of clueless peasants. The truth was all too easy to mold.

"I do have a request to make of you," he said to them, making his voice sound as indifferent as possible.

Samantha and Tucker immediately stopped talking. "W-What kind of a request?" said Samantha. A part of her was excited. She was finally able to help a ghost. Who knew, maybe this was a start of a beautiful friendship? A mystic had once told her that she would help a great destiny reveal itself. That has partially been the reason for her chasing after ghost rights all the time; she felt it was part of her destiny, and she couldn't let it go.

"I died without making amends with my sister, who lives in the Kingdom of Casper. If I could go to her, my soul would be at peace and I could move on. I cannot do it alone, however. I will need your help," he said, attempting to make his voice sound somewhat sincere. Samantha smiled. So he wasn't of this kingdom, which meant that he was not loyal to the king, who she considered a fool and had a complete misunderstanding of ghosts.

"Why would we help you?" said Tucker, frowning.

"Tucker!" Samantha whispered warningly. "Go on," she said adoringly to the ghost.

Daniel's smirk turned into a malicious grin. "Because I so happen to know where the prince is hiding."

Samantha and Tucker gasped.

"You do?"

"Haha. I knew you were the good guy. So you'll tell us, right?" said Tucker, placing a hand on Daniel's shoulder, smiling.

Daniel glared at him from the corner of his eye and Tucker immediately removed his hand, his face falling. "Heh. Sorry," he said.

"You do this for me," he said, turning around, "And, in exchange, I will tell you the location of the prince. Trust me, no one will find him without my knowledge."

Samantha beamed and brought her hands to her chest as if holding them to her beating heart. "Oh, thank you! You don't know what this means to us! Of course we'll help you!"

"I don't know..." said Tucker, looking at Sam. She scowled at him angrily. "Tucker!"

"I just don't, Sam. I mean, you can't just trust a ghost just because you think he's handsome!" he told her. Samantha blushed furiously.

"I-I don't -- I never -- "

While she struggled with her words Daniel frowned. He was afraid of this. The girl had a very open heart, the boy was somewhat harder to break through.

"How do we know we can trust you?" Tucker said.

Samantha didn't retort but faced the prince. "Surely there is a way to prove your loyalty?" she said.

Daniel thought about their indecision for a while and then smiled. He pulled out his sword. It was silver with markings embossed into it and a black and green crest wound about the handle. At first sight of it, they stepped back in fear, but he bowed before them on his knee.

"The sword of a knight. We are sworn to loyalty, I would never go back on my word, I swear by it."

He felt like such an idiot bowing before a couple of peasants. He was a prince, he bowed to no one but the king and queen. But he knew it was the only way to win over their trust.

He lowed his eyes as he knew they consider this. He peaked through one eye to look at Tucker to see if this affected him anyhow. He seemed to be deep in thought. Daniel closed it once more and awaited their approval.

"Of course we believe you," said Samantha, gushing.

Tucker let out somewhat of a groan and nodded his head. "Fine," he said. "Sir _knight_. We'll help you."

Daniel would have laughed if he didn't have to keep his calm. Too easy.

He stood up and returned his sword to his side.

"We have an accord, then?" he said, holding out his hand flat out in front of him.

"An accord," said Samantha, not taking her eyes off of him and placing her hand on top of his.

"An accord," Tucker echoed and placed his hand on top of hers.

"Long live the king!" said Daniel.

Samantha scowled at this but reminded herself that he was from another kingdom.

"Long live the king!" she and Tucker said at the same time and the three lifted their hands from the center, sealing the deal.

Daniel smiled secretively as the two began walking through the field.

"Er, which way?" asked Tucker. Samantha shrugged and looked at Daniel.

He wanted to answer but he felt something briefly on his hand. It was...warm. He looked at it quizzically. Impossible. He touched it with the other and felt the dead of his ghost hand against it. Immediately, it died once more. What was going on? He really did not need this right now.

"Daniel?" said Samantha. "Everything all right?"

He winced. He wasn't used to people speaking to him informally. Usually it was either "your majesty" or "your highness," but he supposed he could cope. For now. Besides, the aftereffect of the truce is what bothered him most. He formed his hand into a fist and dropped it at his side. "Yes. Fine," he said, walking toward them. "We're due north."

_**Hmm. Told you Danneh could be the antagonist. Heh-heh. Kidding. You really didn't get to find out what was going on in his mind before much, but now you know how Daniel works. As a prince, he was already arrogant, but now that he's been turned into a ghost, not only has his human half been shoved into the background, but he is also unable to let his emotions recall themselves as easily as when he was in his human state. And that's kind of what Tucker and Samantha are about. They're not just there to walk next to him, they're also there to help him recall his human half. I guess it's sort of the topic discussed in TUE when Danny decided to get rid of his humanity and, what was left over? His ghost half which actually betrayed Vlad. I kind of wanted to play up on that side of him a bit more. Eh, he's not all too bad once you get to know him. Riiight. Will he ever change? We'll see. **_


	5. Dragon

**Summary: **AU. Caught in the middle of Vladimir Master's evil plot to take over the Kingdom of Amity, Prince Daniel is turned into a half-ghost. Now he must flee for his life, hide in the company of two new allies, and fight his way back to the throne. DxS

**Disclaimer: **Butch and Nick own Danny and Co.

_**On a quick side note, I had to bump the rating up a notch because of a slightly graphic scene in this chapter. Perhaps it isn't that big a deal at all, but better safe than sorry. Just so you know! **_

**Chapter 5: Dragon**

The sun intensely bore down on their backs as they walked through a field of grass. Not a cloud could be seen in the sky and the nearest trees which could provide any shade at all were finally coming into view.

Samantha and Tucker were barely walking behind Daniel, who kept a fast pace and had now removed his dark cloak, rolled up his silk black sleeves and green velvet trousers for hopes of appearing somewhat more of a commoner.

Finally, Tucker could no longer take the heat, wobbled, and fell flat on his stomach. Samantha stopped walking and looked at her friend pityingly, giving him a helping hand up.

He looked at her desperately, wiping his brow. "Couldn't you talk to him?" he said, exhausted. They had been walking for hours on end and Daniel, who was a ghost, did not seem to tire the least bit.

Samantha nodded and let his friend sit in the grass as she caught up with the ghost who hadn't even paused to wait for them.

"You seem to do a lot of walking for a ghost," she said cleverly, slightly running at his side and embracing the refreshing cool air he gave off. "Couldn't you fly us there?"

"I wish I could but seeing as I have just died it appears that my apparitional abilities are limited. Besides, my fight with the huntress took a lot of energy out of me and I must save myself for the perils ahead."

He did not stop nor look at her, simply continued walking straight ahead without hesitation.

"What perils?" she asked, once more catching up with him.

"Do you always ask such stupid questions?" he said nastily.

"It depends, are you always this rude?"

"I am not rude, I am honest," he replied.

"It is not simply your honestly that is lacking, then! Do you not realize that we have been walking for hours and are weary where as you, who are a ghost, wear not?"

"Your point?" he said as he kept going.

She stopped following him and called, "That we make camp!" resting her hands on her hips in frustration.

He finally stopped and wheeled one leg around to face them with a discontented expression on his face. Meanwhile, Tucker had finally caught up.

"Fine. When we reach those trees over there, you two rest while I go into the village and get supplies," he said simply and then continued walking.

"You can't go into town!" Samantha objected, chasing him once more. "You're a ghost, they'll sense you!"

"Pardon, but do you follow with another proposition?"

"I'll go," breathed Tucker, resting his hands on his knees.

Daniel emitted a short laugh. "You're too weak, don't bother. I'll be there and back in no time."

"You shouldn't!" said Samantha. "They're looking for you, don't you understand? We won't be able to get away this time."

Daniel considered this, still walking, and then said to them, "All right. Tucker may go. It seems I died with a pocket full. He may have some of my gold."

"Really?" said Tucker, excited. He hadn't actually had his hands on any gold pieces for a while.

Daniel sneered as they finally approached the trees. "Really," he said.

Tucker took the money earnestly, shoving the coins in his practically empty purse and taking his hat off to vent out some of the sweat.

"Samantha, make sure he doesn't venture into town," said Tucker sternly to his friend before departing.

She smiled at him and nodded. Daniel's eye twitched. "What are you, my nanny?" he claimed in protest. "If I so wish to venture in to town, then I will!"

"Not on my watch," Samantha mumbled as she leaned against a tree. Daniel turned from her and observed their surroundings as the boy run off toward the village.

"We'll see about that," Daniel said to himself, disgusted at the thought that, even for a mild second, she thought herself better than him.

A poster resided on one of the trees and, dropping his cloak down next to it, Daniel ripped the parchment off. Honestly, what a horrible picture of him. He sat down on the grass and leaned against the tree. Only ten thousand gold pieces? What was he, heir to the cook? Green energy from his hands spread easily through the paper and burned to a crisp, the ashes falling around him.

Samantha walked over to where he was sitting and looked down at what he'd done in peculiarity.

"You hold a grudge against the prince?" she questioned, her tone slightly pleased.

He didn't look up at her, but rested his arms on his knees.

"Don't make simpleton assumptions. I have no such reason."

She scowled and sat down next to him, though making sure to leave as much space as possible between them due to his chilling aura. He felt her glare on him so he sighed and knew he had to explain.

"The fewer people are looking for the prince, the greater a chance he has of not being found, and you finding your reward at the end of the deal," he said, pulling out his sword so that he could begin to sharpen it.

"Of course," said Samantha, though disturbed by his smarminess.

The hour had begun to grow late and Tucker still had not returned. Daniel had finally put away his now sharpened sword and leaned back against the tree, folding his arms behind his head. Samantha had switched from pacing around the location in order to keep herself warm and sitting at the bottom of the hill cuddled against her knees, but he hadn't exchanged a single word with the girl and was rather amazed at her record. Finally shutting his eyes, however, she suddenly spoke up and he silently cursed.

"Are you always this quiet?" she asked, turning her head to him from where she was positioned some way off. She had folded her skirt under her now that even the grass had begun to turn cool.

"Only with peasants," he said, turning his head away from her. "Don't you have anything better to do, Sam?"

She stood up in anger and approached him. "It's Samantha to you, _Sir_ Daniel. You know, you may have been a knight, but you are certainly not at all kind and courteous. And are greatly lax at a sense of propriety, if I might add!"

Daniel ignored her and stood up himself, gathering his cloak and draping it around himself once more. She watched him in amusement, wondering what he was doing. Only when he began to descend down the hill in the direction of the village did she protest.

"Where do you think you're going?" she said sternly, walking quickly behind him.

"I believe I lack a sense of propriety and am therefore wondering into the village without your consent."

"You will _not_ -- "

She grabbed his arm to stop him from going any further but immediately released him as he turned to her, offering a deadly glare. She somewhat gasped as he stood his full height and looked her in the eyes.

"I think it is I here that make the decisions seeing that you are the peasant woman and I am the dominant man. Also, a knight. Therefore, I would appreciate it if you did not interfere with my plans."

Samantha's jaw dropped in disbelief of such scorn and was at first unable to reply to his remark. Furiously stomping at the side of his path as he returned to his pace, she finally gathered her words. "Woman? Knight? Now I know you're indeed shallow! I cannot even believe I stood up for you! You, of all, have the least sense!"

"I seem to have more sense than you when you called me your fiancé."

"You have a better suggestion?"

"Sure. Next time, be more realistic. Honestly -- " He stopped briefly and mockingly looked her up and down " -- as if that could ever happen."

He then kept walking, leaving her standing there, flustered.

Once again, however, she had run up to him. It was as if there was nothing he could say would make her give up and leave him alone. He groaned.

"You know what your problem is?" she said maddingly.

"Enlighten me," he responded, attempting to pick up his pace. Maybe he should just turn invisible right now so that she'd stop bothering him. He could almost imagine the dumbfounded look on her face. Unfortunately, he knew he had to save as much spectral energy as possible; knowing the Reader's fortune, he couldn't risk it.

"You just don't trust anybody! You know, I doubt you trust even yourself. That's why you behave so proud and arrogant and...and...crude!"

Grinding his teeth in exasperation and squinting his eyes, he stopped once more and looked her straight in the face.

"One, they all mean the same thing, darling, and two, I highly doubt -- "

A sudden sensation came over him and he witnessed a blue vapor escape his mouth.

"What is -- mmff!"

He had come up behind her and held her hand over her mouth.

"Hush."

Turning the both of them intangible, they phased through the ground and appeared solid once more behind a tree.

Daniel could feel them: four sources of ghostly energy. Their auras. It was more like sensing a presence in the room, only you wouldn't know it was there unless you felt for it.

Meanwhile, Samantha was still muffled by his dead hand over her mouth, and the frustration of not knowing what was going on just made it worse. However, she lost all track of thought as the drop in temperature made her shake and notice her body turning stiff. If he did not let go of her immediately, she would freeze to death. She therefore did the only thing she could think to do and bore her teeth into his lifeless flesh.

"You bit me!" he said in astonishment as he brought his hand away from her mouth and released her from his grasp.

Still shaking fiercely but able to feel her fingers once more, she did not let the discomfort take away from the opportunity to fire away at her curiosity. "W-What's going on? W-Why was your mouth b-blue? Y-You could have k-killed me! Why are you -- ?"

"Don't you ever shut up?"

"N-No!"

"Well please do, you're giving me a headache."

"You're a g-ghost!"

"Nevertheless, shut up."

As she died down, he felt more intently for the specters. They were coming nearer, which meant that he had to get out, or at least have the better advantage. Either they were the four ghosts that Desiree had warned him of or they most certainly did not wonder around without the royal guard in their wake. He considered floating above the scene to figure out what was happening.

"I can't be here," he told Samantha, who still appeared frozen, "I must leave. I'll be back."

Her eyes bulged at his proclamation. "What? No! You can't just leave me here -- ?"

"I can and I will," said Daniel. "Now do me a favor, remain here and don't do anything I wouldn't tell you to do."

She looked in the direction of where they had come from to see what had startled him. "But, Daniel, what are you -- ?" She turned around to see him gone. "Daniel? Urgh, doesn't he ever listen?"

---------------------------

Skulker, Emberlie, Technus and Dorothy materialized in the field.

"He's near," said Skulker, looking around the field. "He was just here a minute ago."

"Then what are we waiting for?" said Emberlie stubbornly.

"Patience is a virtue," said Technus.

"Shut up, old man," she snapped.

"We cannot attack him all at once," said Dorothy.

"The hell we can't? Why not?" said Emberlie.

"Together -- " Dorathy clasped her hands " -- he will simply escape from our grasp as he did from the huntress, but if we each challenge him to a duel -- " she separated her hands " -- we each have to opportunity to fight him and defeat him in honor so that he may return with us."

"But, Dorothy, what if -- ?"

"I shall go alone. And if you were not cowards, you would follow my suit and do as I say unless you want to spend an eternity in the Ghost Abode."

"You're certain this is the only way?"

"Positive. Attacking him all at once will not allow us to use our strengths to make him surrender. He would only fight to his death or vanish from sight."

Skulker first looked at her uncertaintly but then said, "Agreed."

"Be well, then, sweet Dorothy."

"And return with the prince when you succeed."

---------------------------

Daniel enjoyed the peaceful night air as he skimmed the village from far off. He doubted he'd be able to get some quiet again anytime soon. At least not with that girl constantly running her mouth. He had to admit she had a lot of nerve for a mere peasant to speak with him such a way. Reminding himself that he would put her in her right place the next time they met, he suddenly heard a scream. More like a hundred screams that followed. He glanced down and, at first sight, barely believed his eyes.

An enormous azure dragon had descended upon a part of the village and was setting the houses ablaze, wreaking havoc.

"What the -- ?" He squinted so to make sure he wasn't imagining it. Of course, his first test. "A ghost dragon. Ridiculous."

He immediately pulled out his sword and flew at top speed towards the beast. As he grew nearer, however, he realized that he had acted in vain; the dragon was far larger than he had imagined.

"Whoa!" He dodged a blue flame that had suddenly been fired at him. Once he steadied himself he could have sworn he heard the beast speak to him.

"_Come with me, Prince Daniel...If you cannot defeat me, you must come with me!"_

He winced as he stood before the leviathan. "Right," he said. "Well, this won't be pretty."

He took flight once more, but, almost immediately, the dragon's tail had whipped around and smashed him into the ground.

He picked himself up and slowly opened his eyes to see the dragon's claw descending upon what looked like a man with a very bright red hat.

"Tucker!" He swiped up the dumbfounded boy just as the dragon's foot descended upon the spot where it would have instantly crushed him.

"Thanks, Daniel!" said Tucker, coming to his senses and grinning at the startled ghost.

"Don't move! Stay here!" Daniel ordered as he turned once more to face the creature.

"Okay!" Tucker yelled once Daniel sped to attack. "I'll just stand watch then! Look out of the -- ooh!"

The dragon had now ensnared the prince under its talons and spoke once more as he struggled under its weight. "_Now come with me, Prince Daniel. You have lost!"_

"Think again!" said Daniel and, phasing through the claw, took the sword and ran it through the beast's leg.

It screamed in agony as the blade swiped it off entirely and a surge of green plasma poured out from all sides of the abstracted claw.

Daniel watched the beast screech in shock. He lifted the stained blade up to his face. How did it do that? He simply meant to give it a cut to annoy it, not cut off the whole thing! _Ah well. Just go with it._

As the creature released fire from it's mouth in both agony and defense, Daniel took charge once more and attempted to stab it in the chest, but was sent flying backwards as he made contact with his other claw.

"Well this is getting rather old," he said, propping himself up onto his elbows as the beast's foot descended on him.

Samantha had been running through the village in search of either Daniel or Tucker and, when she saw people running frantically from a certain direction, she knew exactly where to find them.

Arriving at the horrid scene, she witnessed a ghostly dragon stand forty feet high above Daniel, who had fallen onto the ground and upon whom the beast's giant claw was descending.

"Daniel, move!" she yelled and, without thinking, ran to help him up.

He groaned as he saw her run toward him. "Oh great, not you again."

She tugged at his arm and they both became intangible just as the foot descended upon the two.

Daniel picked her up and put her in a similar place as he did Tucker.

"Stay!" he ordered, for that was all he had time for.

Clutching his sword, he sprang up to fly again, but noticed that he had grown weaker. "Dammit!"

The beast roared and unfolded its gigantic wings, taking advantage of his weakness. Daniel clenched his sword tighter and slashed at the monster as it swooped down on him. He did not do much other than scar it's face, however, and watched in horror as the beast now held something in its remaining claw.

He did not need this. He really did not need this.

Samantha was in the monster's tight grip and frozen in fear. Tucker yelled out for her, looking up at the monster as Daniel buried his face in his hand in frustration.

"Why do I get the feeling this only happens in myths?"

"What are you waiting for? Go get her!" yelled Tucker, frantically waving his arms before him.

"Gee, I wonder if I should," Daniel replied sarcastically. He had one shot at this. If he failed, he would lose to the beast.

"What do you mean 'if you should'!" Tucker screamed even louder.

"Quiet!" said Daniel and focused his energy so that he sprang up in the direction of the beast, sword before him in his right hand. He phased through the claw and inferno that tried to block him, lost his intangibility just as he neared the monster's chest, left the sword struck through the dragon's heart, and phased out through the other side.

The beast began to fall and roared for the last time, so fiercely that the ground shook below them.

Daniel fell as well, no longer able to keep himself up, but aimed himself for the dragon and landed on top of it's belly as it rapidly descended to the ground.

He blasted it's left claw with spectral energy from his hand and grabbed the stunned peasant girl from it's clutches. Placing an arm around her shoulders, the two turned intangible once more as the beast crashed into the ground with a numbing thud and groaned.

Samantha and Daniel walked out of the beast and materialized, she shaking and he falling to the ground on all fours and clutching at his side.

"Look!" said an astonished Tucker, who pointed at the dragon and both Samantha and Daniel turned their heads to witness the lizard undergo a metamorphosis. It shrank until it came into the form of a young maiden who had green blood running down her face, a missing arm through which even more blood spat, and finally Daniel's sword, which was pierced through her chest.

Daniel roughly lifted himself and walked up to her slowly.

"Away!" he told Samantha and Tucker, who took several steps toward her as well.

The woman looked at him through her fading dead eyes. She coughed out plasma and then looked up at him.

_"At least I k-know I died serving my k-king. F-Forgive me your m...your majesty,"_ she whispered using up the last bit of her remaining strength. _"Take courage and r-remove the sword." _

He did not understand why, but although Daniel knew that his ghostly state repressed human emotions, he could not help but feel remorse for this woman. He could only hope that she would embrace a better world.

Samantha gasped as Daniel grasped the sword struck through the woman's chest and pulled it out. Immediately, the woman began to fade with evanescence and was gone in seconds together with her chilling aura.

Daniel returned the sword covered in the woman's blood to his side, deciding he would clean it later, and clutched his side once more. It was not that he felt pain, he no longer did so as a ghost, but it was more of as if he had a gaping wound at his side that he needed to cover up for fear of his essence flooding out of him, or an infection flooding in.

"That -- That was no monster. That was a ghost. A woman," said Samantha in a trembling tone. He did not look at her.

"You killed her!"

He couldn't believe she was accusing him of murder when her stupidity beat all odds.

"Why did you disobey me?" he hissed.  
"Excuse me? "

"It isn't that hard to understand!" he screamed as he turned to face her with a loathing look on his face. She looked taken aback. "I ask you again, _why did you disobey me_!"

She said nothing.

He lifted a finger at her in warning. "Don't _ever_ disobey me again!"

She looked at him maddingly and shook saying, "You have no right to speak with me in such a manner."

He turned sharply and yelled, "What is _wrong_ with you? You're a _peasant_! I am a knight, you must obey my bidding and not retort! How pathetically were you raised?"

She did not stutter, but boldly replied, "I must ask the same question of you, Sir Knight. Were you born in a far off kingdom of hell or do you not realize that a knight is the one to do the bidding?"

"To the king!" Daniel spat viciously. Her gut was a nuisance to him, but his tone did not demean her.

She shook her head in pity at him.

"How I wish I could make you take back your words, Daniel," she replied in sincere disappointment.

He scoffed and whispered, "Pathetic wretch" to himself and turned away from her as he clutched his side once more.

"We must leave the village before the others find what happened -- " Daniel began.

"Others?" said Tucker.

"We leave _now_!" Daniel roared and began to limp with the clutch at his side. He couldn't understand why he felt damaged. And if this had been his test of courage, it sure as hell didn't seem to prove much; he felt pathetic struggling with the discomfort.

"Hey, are you okay, Daniel?" said Tucker, coming up to him cautiously.

"Fine," Daniel snarled and continued walking with the two in his wake.

"You saved my life, you know. Our lives," said Tucker. "We're deeply grateful."

"_She_ sure doesn't show it," said Daniel. He felt distraught and annoyed by her incompliance. Another side of him recalled, however, the danger he had gotten in them into; if they only knew, they would understand that he was bargaining with their lives from the very beginning. Considering their foolishness, he thought, however, perhaps they deserved to be taught a lesson.

Once they had walked as far as possible from the village, Daniel finally having stopped sensing the auras of the three other ghosts, they unloaded the supplies that Tucker had purchased and set up a fireplace with three tents.

Daniel had sat on a log, still clutching the dull annoyance he had at his side while Tucker cooked food for Samantha and himself.

"You sure you're not hungry?" he offered Daniel.

Daniel scoffed. "Never been more certain."

Tucker nodded and got up. "Well, thanks again. For saving us, I mean. I guess it's kinda neat having a knight around."

Daniel gave him a slight smile.

"Goodnight, Sir Daniel," Tucker told him, giving him a slight bow.

"Goodnight," Daniel replied and watched the boy scramble into his tent.

"I have been thinking," a female voice came from behind him. "And I have decided that you were right; I should not have disobeyed you. And I'm sorry. I'm also sorry for how I reacted."

Samantha walked around and sat next to him on the log.

He grasped his side still more uncomfortably and looked away from her.

"But I also think," she continued, "that you scorned me in your grief when you should have obeyed me as well."

Daniel snapped his head around to face her so fast that he could have sworn he heard something snap. How_ dare _that wretched little --

Before he opened his mouth to spurn her, however, she said, "If you hadn't wondered off into the field toward the village, perhaps that dragon ghost would not have showed up."

He shut his mouth.

"I know it has something to do with you," she said, trying to catch his gaze. "It didn't just show up there for no reason, did it? It was after you. That's why you were so frantic before. You sensed it. But it's not over. Because if it were, you would have made peace and moved on. It's not just the dragon. Maybe it is that you still need to see your sister, but that's not all, is it?"

He sat in silence, knowing he would rather face the beast once more than admit to her that she was mildly correct.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said monotonously. "Of all things, I was not expecting a monster to meet us at that village."

Samantha watched him cautiously. "Maybe not. But you did expect something. You had even spoken of saving your strength for 'perils,' earlier."

At least she wasn't completely dimwitted.

"Once more I must ask you for you _point_, Samantha," said Daniel cooly and stared into the flames of the fire, the dreary feeling at his side only slightly fading.

"Point being, Danny, that you could always tell me," she said, smiling and tentatively placing her hand on his own and curling her fingers around it.

He didn't remove it immediately but rather watched in amazement as something began to happen to his hand as it did before; it began to change. Change back. To normal.

She must have realized this too as she looked at it strangely and he immediately jerked it from under her own, hiding it under his cloak.

She gave him a questioning and confused look, but he only scowled at her.

"'Danny'? What kind of afoolish diminutive name is that?" he said harshly as she got up.

She paused for a moment, clearly deep in thought at the prospect of what she had just witnessed. Daniel silently cursed himself for not pulling away sooner, but his curiosity had somehow demanded he witness if the gesture would activate his transformation once more.

"A name you give an ally, Sir Daniel. A person you trust," she said as she walked to her tent. The last thing he heard before she was obscured by it were her parting words.

"If you wish, you may call me 'Sam.'"

_**Well, this time I've got nothing to say other than that my muse has had her first shortcoming, so some encouragement might help. Not that I don't know where I'm going with this story (Do I? - checks notes - Er...heh. Course I do!), but any words of wisdom or a simple review would be made of awesome for me. Thanks! **_


	6. Siren

**Summary: **AU. Caught in the middle of Vladimir Master's evil plot to take over the Kingdom of Amity, Prince Daniel is turned into a half-ghost. Now he must flee for his life, hide in the company of two new allies, and fight his way back to the throne. DxS

**Disclaimer: **Butch and Nick own Danny and Co.

_**To my reviewers: Again, thank you all so much, you guys really keep me at it. I know Daniel's crude attitude and Dorothy's death has raised some questions, some of which I hope to answer in this chapter. **_

**Chapter 6: Siren**

Two days had passed since Daniel had encountered his first task, and he could only grow more anxious as they came closer to the Kingdom of Casper.

His worry did not cease at the prospect of his challenges, however. Too often would his thoughts wonder to his mother and father. That would only cause him to think of Vladimir's treacherous activities in the castle, unfortunately, which only stirred his anger. He tried to take little of it out on the girl, but she was always such an easy target; her heart was way too out on her sleeves as far as he was concerned. He had to keep the boy closer to him, on the other hand, knowing his loyalty would come in handy.

They had stopped at each sunset to rest and make camp, inclined to walk for the rest of the day. He had only somewhat slowed his pace so that it may be easier for them to follow.

The discomfort at his side had fully left him on the second day. At unease with this thought, however, he found himself feeling strange after the girl who's blood once resided on his blade. Samantha's mourning expression as he cleansed the blood off was vivid in his mind and kept calling back the thought of murder. He had never wanted to kill anyone, much less set himself on a path to destroy his father's once closest friend. It had all happened against his will and that is how he felt: trapped. He could not change out of his form and part of him did not want to. He had grown comfortable walking in this skin; it let him embrace his worst fears and ignore many insignificant details that would have otherwise greatly troubled him. But it also allowed for nothing more. He believed himself a refugee, with limits that he did not like to reveal. His weaknesses were all too personal to him. He could almost say he was protective of them, but that only sent him into denial. Once all of this was over, however, his worst concern was what everyone would accept him as. A human or ghost? Say he did save the kingdom, but what of his abnormality? Would he be cursed to walk the earth as neither one of the living nor the dead? He dared not reason, but rather consulted his wit and weapon to survive long enough to find out.

Samantha and Tucker, meanwhile in his wake, were deep in conversation over a topic that Samantha had deeply pressed ever since she revealed her findings to Tucker two mornings ago.

"Maybe he's a eunuch," Tucker said smugly.

"Tucker!" Samantha replied. Her friend had not taken her seriously when she presented the evidence before him, but was determined not to give up.

"What? It's possible. Do you know how many knights -- ?"

"He is not a eunuch!" she said in frustration. It was all too difficult to get the point across to him, even more so than to get him to converse about a serious topic.

"Oh? And you would know?" he kidded with her.

She frowned in return and said, "Of course not. I mean he's a ghost, he can't experience...that kind of emotion."

"Right, but he's also part human," Tucker reasoned.

"Then you agree with me?" said Samantha, grinning.

He hesitated momentarily in mock and then replied, "No."

Her face fell and she bit her lip.

"Although, I do think that, if you stand by it, figure out something."

"Figure something?" she questioned, furrowing her brow. "How?"

"A test," he said definitively.

"A test?"

"You know what I mean," said Tucker with a scent of tease in his voice.

Samantha's expression suddenly morphed into that of amusement and understanding. Of course, it was so simple. "Oooh! Right. A test..."

The sun was setting for a fourth time in their journey and they had finally been able to set camp by a body of water. It was a shallow lake in the middle of the woods, but nevertheless, it provided them with refreshing water and a chance to soak their worn out belongings.

When their stirring and hustling had finally come to a rest at the end of the day, Tucker winked at Samantha and confessed that he would turn to bed early from weariness.

She rolled her eyes at her friend, reminding herself not to say anything too rash for the sake of Daniel's suspicion.

They had not spoken much since his battle, but somehow Samantha noticed that Daniel replied to her less coldly after her confrontation of him. She had even caught him watching her off at times, probably attempting to read her thoughts on the previous predicament. She would meet his gaze, which oddly did not break away, and for some time they would even be engaged in what was almost a staring contest until she was finally flustered enough to look away while knowing that his gaze was still upon her.

She watched him sit motionless before the fire, his gaze stern and his mind in deep meditation. She really did want to know more about him, but his nutshell exterior said otherwise. She also steered clear of him often to avoid the freezing temperature he gave off; her breath appeared before her in sign of the temperature drop despite the warm fire. If he really was somehow human, she reasoned, she wondered how he could not be cold. She tried not to boggle her head with contemplation about how he came to be such a curious hybrid, but rather reasoned that either dark magic had something to do with this or he was not fully dead. If either was the case, she still pondered as to why he wished to conceal it from her. True, she had her own secrets, but unfortunately, her curiosity did not seem to sit at all well with reason.

"You look cold," she told him, hugging a blanket around herself as he sat, propping himself up with his arms as he was leaned forward.

He looked at her, eyebrows raised. "Clever girl," he said and turned away once more.

She let silence consume them once again while the fire crackled and then said, "Please, if you don't mind me asking, how is it that you died?"

She saw his shoulders stiffen at the rhetorical question.

She smiled to herself, but quickly hid it as he looked at her.

"You really don't have anything better to do, do you?" he said.

She shook her head, unwilling to let his mark discourage her from the conversation.

Scowling, Daniel knew he had no choice but to reply with only the half-truth. "I didn't. I was murdered."

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise and she gasped. "How dreadful. I'm sorry, I did not know." She the mentally hit herself on the head. _If he is what I believe to be true, that is most certainly a lie. Then again, perhaps it somewhat isn't? Oh he is clever! But he will be found out._

"H-How?"

"A sorcerer. And my father's best friend. At least, he thought him to be. He got me out of the way so that he could then get rid of my father and then collect on our money and marry my mother."

She looked at him in surprise. That story sounded almost too well thought-up to be a lie.

"What about your sister? The one you need to see?"

"She's alive, but she moved away at a young age. She never did like my parents very much. The last thing she told me before I died, however, was that she left because she was jealous of me and despised me. I was always their favorite. I believe I still have my amends to make with her."

She coughed in objection. That, most certainly, was a lie.

"Need some water?" he asked with a snide.

"No, please, do continue."

"With what? That is all I have to tell you."

"But what of you becoming a knight? And the sorcerer. Do you not seek to kill him?"

"You wish to know my life story?"

"Please," said Samantha.

"It's simple, I was raised in the house of a nobleman and elected by my father to be sent to the kingdom to train as a knight. I was killed at a young age and now I mean to finish what is left to be done. But you need not concern yourself with the man that killed me; I have already taken care of him and avenged my family."

She looked at him quizzically. _Taken care of? Did that mean he was dead? Since when did sorcerer's die? Merlin had lived for centuries. _She then smirked. "How long exactly were you a knight? You're quite good."

"Four years," said Daniel. "And I'm not as near good as the others."

"Four?" she questioned.

"That is what I said," he told her.

"Because it would seem to me," said Samantha, "that knights train since the age of seven and continue their training, evolving from page to squire, until the king dubs them and elects them permanently into his service."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "I won't ask how you know that, but I never denied it. I was drafted at an early age."

"I could have sworn that a squire need be within the age of the king when he became a knight."

"He was a young king, are you quite done?" he said angrily. Her interrogation was inevitable; he had cautiously waited for it and conducted numerous stories, none of which seemed to fully satisfy her intrigue.

She bowed her head and nodded, knowing the questions were getting her nowhere to finding out the truth. The more she asked, the more he would lie, or bend the truth, she knew. It was not that she doubted if he may keep his word to their accord, it was rather that she knew he would but wondered what exactly made him the person he was and how he had ended up in his most peculiar predicament.

"I...do have another question," Samantha said quietly, feeling the heat creep up to her cheeks.

He looked at her, placing all possible fact and fiction together in his mind so to answer correctly.

She looked at him bashfully. "When...you were alive, did you ever -- have you ever been in love?"

He was completely taken aback by this question and sat up straight. He squinted his eyes at her and said, "No."

She swallowed and ignored the turn of her stomach at the prospect of where she was going with this.

"Never? You've never kissed a girl?"

He smiled. "I have, but a kiss does not equal the passion of love, now does it, Samantha?"

She shook her head as the blush across her face deepened and she stared into the fire.

He smirked. "Yourself?"

Her heart leapt at this question and her lips parted in shock, caught off guard.

She turned her head tentatively to look at him, his face growing in familiarity as the fire cast its shadow and his eyes continued to glow.

"My parents wouldn't let me near sight of a boy. So I can't say I know the sensation."

Daniel looked away, an uneasy desire to reach out to the purest of virgins before him.

"What about Tucker?" he said suddenly.

"I met him after I ran away," she replied.

"From what, may I ask?"

She was not sure why he had taken the sudden interest to ask of her past, but it made her feel flattered.

She frowned. "My parents were planning my engagement. I guess that was sort of the last straw for me." The recollection of the very idea made her feel ill.

His face turned into one of amusement. "He must have been horrid."

She snickered, part of her relived and yet shocked at how she could actually be enjoying herself at the ghost knight's company, and said, "You have no idea. Let's just say he stood for everything I believed against."

"But Tucker doesn't -- ?"

She laughed aloud. "You don't know him very well, do you?"

He scrunched up his nose in disgust. "Why, he's not a eunuch, is he?"

She bit her lips to stop from laughing. "N-No, he's not."

"Then I doubt I want to know what else his problem is," said Daniel, looking away, grinning.

Samantha blushed and stopped laughing. "What do you mean by that?"

He looked at her again, noting that in all naivete she took his reply to mean more than he implied. Then again, perhaps he did.

"I meant that I do not wish to know of his maladies."

"Oh," said Samantha, her face falling in disappointment. She had hoped he meant otherwise.

"But if it is being that he is not ill, he is certainly foolish to pass you as a lady," he told her.

The blush rose on her face once more and she bit her lip in mischief. She spoke in a sultry voice, "Then you do think of me as a... lady?"

He swallowed as she dropped her blanket slowly and bravely to embrace the freezing temperature and scooted closer to him. His eyes searched her voluptuous figure as she moved nearer to him and his deep voice replied with an, "Evidently."

"Because I would think, Danny," she breathed, a fog appearing before her mouth, as she moved ever more closer to him and tried not to shake at the drop in temperature due to his near presence, "that you being a ghost and me being a human, it would be _forbidden_ for us to look at each other...through eyes...of temptation."

She was before him now, her breath growing thicker in the air and her lips turning blue, but she did not move away. He did notstir but simply seemed to admire her action and consumed her warm breath against his ice cold nature.

"Perhaps it would be easier on the both of us, Daniel," she whispered lustfully against his lips, "that you _deny_ your desire to rid me of my inexperience..."

She searched his eyes as they fell and he placed a hand on her chin as his thumb grazed her lip. She shivered under his freezing touch, which immediately began to grow warm as she suspected. She grinned as he leaned in to her, all the while feeling her arms grow numb of cold, but he immediately pulled back when he noticed the change in his hand.

When she did not feel his lips upon hers, she opened her eyes in confusion, her breath shaking from the chill. He had turned away from her and was cursing himself in his mind. How could he be so foolish as not tosee her intentions? She was a wise seductress, that much he knew.

She turned back to fire, shivering and rubbing her hands together for warmth, and said, "O-Oh, I g-get it. You don't think I'm p-pretty enough."

He still did not turn to face her but mumbled something not quite clearly.

"Beg pardon?" she asked, whisking her head in his direction.

"You're beautiful," he told her softly, still not turning to face her.

"Oh," she said in surprise, her face growing hot once more. "Then is it because you assume I'm a peasant?"

This time he faced her with a look of puzzlement in his eyes. "Assume?"

"I never said I was," she said shyly, as she embraced herself in her blanket to conserve her body heat.

"Really? Then what are you?" he said, his tone filled with amused curiosity.

"What are _you_?"

He smiled slightly at her quirk. "I am a ghost."

"And I'm a princess," she said with sarcasm.

He had to laugh at her expression. "Touche."

She watched him with ardor. "You laughed. I've never really heard you laugh before."

Daniel stopped smiling and said, "It's late, Sam. You should get some rest."

She smiled and got up, gathering her blanket with her. Perhaps she didn't have to know who he really was just yet. "All right. But just remember, you believe me as much as I believe you. Good night, Sir Daniel."

"Sweet dreams, your _highness_," Daniel replied with a curl of his lips as she stared back at him momentarily before entering her tent.

He stared at the fire only a while longer until he decided that perhaps it wouldn't hurt if he lay down and closed his eyes, even if in meditation. When, and if ever, he was able to turn backto human, his body would be exhausted from lack of sleep and rest. Walking into his tent, he lay down on a blanket and placed his rolled-up cape under his head for a pillow. Slowly and wistfully, his mind reached a calm and only the deepest thoughts penetrated his concentration.

----------------------------------

"Why have we put off so long to attack?" said Emberlie.

"Dorothy did not know he had the sword, apparently it has the power to kill us. We do not wish to repeat our mistakes; we must strike at his weakest moment."

Emberlie scowled at this and said, "Uh-huh. So why are we after the prince again?"

"To escape the Ghost Abode."

"Unless of course, he kills us," she said, rolling her eyes.

"More importantly, you," said Skulker. "It's your turn to defeat the whelp."

"I still don't get it. She makes up some crud about us failing if we work together, she works alone, fails, and now I'm supposed to face a sword? You've got to be joking."

"Dorothy died by the sword, we must respect her warning."

Emberlie scoffed but said, "Fine, but if he sends me to hell, I'm cursing you all the way there."

"You seem sure of that," said Technus.

"Obviously," Emberlie said hastily. "I'm a pirate, not much to be said there."

"You could always redeem yourself, you are serving for the sake of the king."

"Alas," she said sarcastically with a sigh, "you haven't noticed but the king isn't God."

"True, but he may spare your soul from a fiery inferno."

She gave a mock laughter. "Unlikely," she uttered finally and vanished from sight.

----------------------------------

Daniel had never fully lost consciousness to escape into a slumber, but he could not be so certain of that as he suddenly awoke to hear someone, or something, calling him.

_"Daniel...Come with me, Daniel..."_ It was soft but cold and almost sounded like a song. He arose, placed his sword at his side, and hung his cloak about himself.

Exiting his tent, he found a mist so heavily absorbing the campsite that he couldn't even make out the other tents.

Squinting to notice any sign of movement, he heard nothing other than the faint laughter of a girl.

"Samantha?" he called, but the only reply that came was the alluring call. _"Come, come with me..."_

He paid more careful attention to the tone this time. It rang with melody, in all its harmony yet discord. He wanted to know where it came from. More than that, he _needed_ to know.

Frowning, he wondered if this was a dream.

He turned to walk in the direction of the voice, hand at sword, when he felt something break beneath his step.

He looked down to see a rose in its full bloom on the ground. He bent his knees to pick it up and lifted it to his face, absorbing the intoxicating aroma of the flower. He had not encountered the sweet scent of exotic flowers since he had been back at the castle.

He was about to lift himself back up when he noticed the mist clear slightly and the body of a girl, dressed in a scarlet gown, reveal itself sprawled on the ground. The girl seemed to be resting on the cold earth as if she were comfortable and he came over to her side and bent down to brush a lock of hair out of her face only to stop and stroke her jaw line as well. She was bathed in moonlight which gave her pale skin a soft glow and the dress she wore fell below her shoulders. The girl's eyes fluttered open and she smiled, bringing her hand over Daniel's arm and down onto his hand which resided on her face. She took it and led it down her neck and onto her chest. Daniel observed her and then said, "You should return to bed, Samantha," as he pulledhis hand back to his side.

She smiled at him and slowly propped herself up on her elbows. _"Will you come with me?" _she cried in a mesmerizing timbre.

"As you wish," Daniel whispered, before thinking, and began to bring his face down onto hers until she suddenly vanished and began to titter from a distance.

He turned his head to see her further off towards the lake, the mist having cleared even more.

_"Come, Daniel, come with me!"_ she said as she laughed once more. He began to descend down to where she was as she continued to laugh and hid behind a tree that barely obscured her. Her behavior was amusing, almost childish. As he came closer, she peaked from behind the tree, grinning, one arm wrapped around it, and brought her hand up to skim his face with her fingers.

He grabbed her wrist, however, and lowered it. Her laughter died away as he gave her a piercing glare, brought his hand to her face instead, and kissed her. Her lips felt cold and dead against his own, and once he drew back, she vanished again and appeared, laughing, at the beach of the lake.

Daniel followed her as she called, "_Come, come!_ _With me!"_

She stood facing the lake and continued to beckon him as the water slowly rose.

His feet began to sink into the wet sand as he approached her by the water. He came from behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulled her toward him, and kissed her neck. "No," he said, "come with me." She moaned and raised her chin while he trailed the kisses down her shoulder, only to met the edge of a blade to her throat. She scowled.

"You're not Samantha," he whispered darkly in her ear as a blue mist escaped his lips. "So who are you?"

She did not answer, so he turned her around vehemently, sword still at throat. His expression was vicious and she smirked at him.

"My name is Emberlie," said the woman, as the familiar face of the raven-haired girl transformed into that of a woman with pond-green eyes and faint blue hair. She was equally fair, but bore a disgusted look on her face. "You have defeated me, do with me as you please."

He looked at her and contemplated for a moment before he replied. "Be gone. And do not return," he spat and she began to back up toward the water as he kept his sword pointed at her. She emitted a soft sigh from her lips and the echo of her melodious voice slowly fainted as her scarlet dress began to melt and she suddenly morphed into liquid herself and fell with a splash into the lake.

He waited until the water returned to its placid state and, satisfied, began to walk back to the campsite. Suddenly, he heard a rush of water rise behind him and wrap around his legs. He fell to the ground as Emberlie laughed and began to pull him into the lake. He immediately stabbed his sword into the thickest part of the sand and grabbed hold of it.

"Tucker! Samantha!" he yelled, knowing that if he was dragged into the water, he would lose to the siren.

Tucker emerged from his tent, lantern in hand and rubbing his eyes awake and Samantha, hearing him in his commotion, also awoke and exited the comfort of hers.

Seeing him struggling against what looked like the water dragging him into the lake, Tucker grabbed Daniel by his arms and began to pull as Samantha grabbed Tucker around his waist and the two forced the ghost from the demon's grasp.

Immediately, Emberlie's hold on Daniel fell, Tucker and Samantha finally let go and, heaving a deep sigh, he pulled himself up by his sword, drew it out of the sand, and stood to face them.

Tucker gave him a hand to help him steady himself, but Daniel refused. Instead he said, "Thank you, Tucker. That was some nasty whirlpool."

"Er, are you sure it was just a whirlpool?" Tucker questioned in disbelief and Daniel nodded, returning his sword to his side. Tucker raised his eyebrows to Samantha, but she bit her lip, looking unnerved.

Daniel began to walk back to his tent when Samantha said, "What about me?" somewhat offended that he did not thank her.

Her turned to face her, his eyes narrowed, and, extending a finger to her, said, "_You_...stay away from me."

Samantha was taken aback and Tucker looked at her in surprise. Daniel, meanwhile, returned to his tent and, falling to sit on the ground, clutched his heart. What _was_ happening to him?

The next morning they had continued their journey and Daniel held a conversation with Tucker while they walked, who had questioned him on his sword and how it had been able to kill a ghost before, while Samantha walked miserably in their wake, avoiding Daniel's gaze as he would glare at her every time she attempted to make note of her presence.

"I suppose when I died, my sword was a big part of my life, so just as I received ghostly attributes, so did my weapon."

"Amazing," said Tucker. "I wish I had a magic sword."

"Magic?" Daniel repeated, pondering on the thought.

"Well sure," said Tucker, "Not everyday you come across a blade that tears through the supernatural. I'm into weapons myself. I've been working on something, wanna see?" He pulled out an object from his sack that looked like a two-headed bow.

Daniel laughed at this and Tucker snapped to look at him. "Hey, you laughed!"

Daniel frowned and glared at Samantha. "So I've been told."

She did not reply nor look at him, but simply continued to stare ahead and ignored his remark.

Tucker looked uneasily between Daniel's deadly glare and Samantha's unusual silence and said, "So, er, how do we know we're going in the right direction? To Casper, that is."

Daniel smirked at this and pointed ahead of him to a large stone that had the letters _Kingdom of Casper 20 leagues_ with an arrow pointing forward engraved into it.

"Oh. That," said Tucker. "Of course. I never see that. Why don't I ever see that!"

Daniel laughed once more and said, "You just need to learn to look."

Samantha cast a quick glimpse of Daniel's somewhat uplifted nature and wondered what it was that had caused him to act so freely with Tucker and yet so distantly with her. She recalled the night before and pondered if it had been because she tried to uncover his secret, but he did not seem so upset by it before. Something must have happened during that night that troubled him, something that had to do with that whirlpool, she knew. She just wished he would talk to her. Not that she needed his forgiveness, of course. If anything, he should be explaining to her why he could not be completely honest with her.

She did not watch where she was going, and in moments, her foot slipped as she stepped uneasily into a ditch and fell to the ground, clutching her ankle.

"Sam, are you okay?" Tucker said worriedly as he rushed to her side. She squinted her eyes and took her breath sharply through her teeth as she clutched her foot in pain.

Daniel stopped walking and came to cast a shadow on her form as his cool presence made her shiver. She looked up at him through the splitting ache in her ankle only to meet his unperturbed expression. He did not seem to show the slightest hint of compassion.

Tucker attempted to help her up and asked, "Can you walk?"

She shook her head as he swung his arm around her to help her limp.

"Couldn't you carry her?" Tucker asked Daniel, scowling.

Daniel cocked his head up in displeasure of the tone in his comment and said, "She'd freeze," as he looked coldly at her.

Tucker sighed and nodded in exasperation as he helped the girl said, "Hold on," and let her sit on the grass cautiously. He bend down and took off her sandal as she gasped in pain and started to wrap a cloth from his pocket around her ankle.

Samantha waited patiently as he worked and took one glance at Daniel, giving him a disgusted look as if she expected him to help otherwise.

He said nothing but stood there, arms folded at his back as he watched Tucker apply the bandage, while a growth of spiteful jealousy crept over his heart.

_**I know I promised this task to be the most "entertaining" out of the four/five, and I don't know if I pulled that off or not (I hate to eat my words). All I know is in my mind (I'm a visual person) maybe it just appears that way, but as far as what you thought, that's all up to you. As far as out of all the chapters, I can't even begin to speculate which will be the most entertaining. I'll have to wait and see for myself. **_

_**One quick thing, what Samantha says about the knight having to be somewhere around the age of the king, I totally made that up. The rest of the stuff is pretty legitimate, but you know, different kingdoms different rules I guess. **_

_**Please do me the favor of reviewing! I know you guys are reading, it just really inspires me to write when I know you're actually enjoying the story. Just to know I'm not wasting my time. I thank thee! **_


	7. Prophecy

**Summary: **AU. Caught in the middle of Vladimir Master's evil plot to take over the Kingdom of Amity, Prince Daniel is turned into a half-ghost. Now he must flee for his life, hide in the company of two new allies, and fight his way back to the throne. DxS

**Disclaimer: **Butch and Nick own Danny and Co.

**Chapter 7: Prophecy**

A soft but urgent knock came at Vladimir Master's closed study and he bid the intruder to enter. Queen Madison appeared behind the lavender door, eyes bloodshot from excessive weeping over her ill husband and her lost son.  
Our of all her troubles, however, she appeared to be relatively calm and collected. Her hands were gathered together before her and Vladimir stood up and bowed as she entered. She shook her head and brought a trembling hand to her mouth, knowing she dreaded the words that were about to escape her lips. She attempted to ignore the fact that her eyes automatically wondered to an illuminating gem that stood by his desk. She broke her glare and proceeded with her concern.

"Vlad," she said in a dark tone, "Jack is dying." He came around his desk and lead her to a chair. "I did not know who else to come to, and I wanted to ask for your help a long time ago. I've just...oh Vlad I've been so worried! It's all too horrible to handle..."

He crouched down before her and took her trembling hands. "How may I be of assistance, my queen?"

She lifted her heavy eyes to meet his and began in a trembling tone, "A couple of nights ago...I...there was someone...someone outside my chamber. I heard them say -- say that they were planning on getting Jonathan out of the way and taking the kingdom. Someone's killing him, Vlad, I know it, but I feel so lost because...I have no idea who...and...I didn't know who else I could trust..."

His expression fell with these words. He pondered on them for a moment and then smiled at her. "That is most grieving news, my queen. I do trust that I will do everything in my power to unveil the scoundrel. Do you...have any suspicions?"

Madison considered this for a moment. In all honesty, she had not even contimplated who could possibly be plotting against her husband. The only enemies he had were ghosts.

"Well...no," she said meekly. "Not really, I mean, who would do such a thing?"

He smiled once more and said, "I see. Yes I very well understand what you mean, your husband is a very _aimable_ man." He got up and turned his back to her, stroking his chin. "May I ask, who other than you has not left his side since he fell ill?"

She was not sure what he meant by asking such a question but replied, "Not but that medic and Sir Lancer. They never leave his chamber, or are at least standing outside of it to guard it."

Little did Madison know, but the medic was actually posessed by a ghost that was being controlled by Vladimir.

"Sir Lancer?" he said. "Never leaves his sight do you say?"

"Why?" questioned the queen suspiciously. "What do you suppose is wrong? You don't honestly suspect him off -- "

"Oh no no," said Vlad, giving a soft chuckle. "Of course I was not accusing him of anything I was simply...pondering is all."

She nodded her head in apprehension and fell silent.

"Do tell me, however, who was it that objected to asking the ghosts of Prince Daniel's whereabouts?" he said, smirking.

She looked taken aback at the question but then answered it slowly, "J-Jonathan and...Sir Lancer..."

"And who is it that is constantly left to labor the king's tasks?"

"Sir --"

"And who was it that was first seen at the sight of the king's first expression of illness?"  
The queen gasped. "Sir Lancer."

"Do you still doubt your suspicions?"

"Oh but I had none! Oh...all this time...I thought you said Jack had a heart condition?..."

"That he did, but when he did not get better I suspected that it was far more serious. Only then did I take it into consideration that it was a more intricate situation."

"Then what can we do?"

Vladimir placed his hands on her shoulders. "There is one thing I promise to do, my queen, and I will. I promise to protect you from harm. If it is indeed Sir Lancer that is bestowing these ill deeds upon our king, I will make certain that he is found out and found guilty."

"You will arrest him?"

"Far better," he said with a grin, "I will send him to serve as a guardian at the Ghost Abode. He will never return to trouble us again."

"Oh thank you, Vlad! I was so worried you would not know what to do, but now I know otherwise. You have lifted a heavy burden from my heart. And Jack? He will get better?"

He looked at her sadly. "That I cannot guarantee, my queen. I will search for all possible remedies. Once the fiend is out of the way, however, it should be easier to keep an eye out for him."

The queen nodded and tears of joy slid down her face. As unusual as the behavior seemed for a queen, she replied by grasping Vladmir's hand and bringing it to her lips. "Thank you. Thank you, Vlad. Thank you so much."

Vladimir's eyes widened at her expression in amusement. "My deepest pleasure," he replied. She squeezed his hand and returned it to his side before she left his study, smiling one last time at him and closing the door behind her.

He observed his hand which she had kissed and brought it to his face to inhale her sweet scent. "Now, if only that girl showed up with the prince's head on a plate, things would be all too perfect," he said to himself as the possessed Bertrand materialized next to him, bowing and registering that he had accomplished his duty by presenting a flask full of a bright pink fluid before him.

"Hurry then, dear," said Vladimir as he took the vile, walked over the amber stone in the goblet and poured it into it, watching the gem slowly absorb the king's essence.

----------------------------------

Queen Madison sat mournfully beside the pale king in his chamber. She gripped his still hand gently and admired his sleeping face with tears in her eyes. His skin was clammy and stiff and he moaned in his sleep. He had not awoken for over a day.

The queen felt torment at the fact that someone as close as Sir Lancer could possibly plot against her king. He had now left the castle by Vladimir's orders and only time would tell if Jack's condition would improve. Sir Lancer had always seemed so faithful, such a chivalrous knight. Then again, perhaps her judgement had wavered in the past years. She thought she knew her son so well, after all. She never imagined he would run away from his duties. He had never even said anything that would send her to suspect such things. True, he was often perturbed and unsettled as a prince, but he had a good heart. If those ghosts she had sent could not deliver him, she knew no one could. She had done everything in her power to assure his safe return, all she could do now was pray that he was alive and safe.

The thought of this sent even more tears running from her eyes. This should not be happening; everything had always been so well in the Kingdom of Amity. She had not even bothered Jazmine with news of her father's illness. Lord knows she had enough responsibility as a queen now. Madison was immensely proud of her daughter, but the thought of her family falling apart made her realize that there did not seem much hope for the kingdom. What would happen if Daniel didn't return? What if Jack did die? And what of her? Who would carry on the crown? There was no heir left. And there was no hope.

She noticed her hands shaking and lowered her face into them as she sobbed.

What made things worse, however, was the more she thought of it, the more that stupid gem kept haunting her dreams. She couldn't get it out of her head no matter how hard she tried and, lately, it seemed to be getting worse. She had wild fantasies of making an extraordinary elixir from it. Her imagination wondered if it could possibly possess supernatural abilities to turn metal into gold, provide eternal youth and beauty, or eternal life. At times she even contemplated if the gem could cure her dying husband. She hated the thought and despised it, but part of her did not want to see the gem damaged. The less she could hold on to her husband and the hope of the future of the kingdom being restored, the more she found herself longing for the precious jewel. The object represented ideal paradise in her mind, and if she could claim herself the owner of it, everything would be at calm and peace around her, as if it would be the solution to all of her problems.

Her train of thought was interrupted as Jack suddenly began to gasp greatly, though he still did not seem to be awake since his eyes were shut. She immediately stood up and began to call his name during his seizure. Her heart was plummeting violently at her throat.

"Daniel...ghost...Vlad..." Random words escaped his lips as he gasped violently.

"What is it, darling? Daniel isn't here. Neither is Vlad, oh please be at rest!" she sobbed as she held her husband's hand and hovered over him. His expression scowled but he seemed to still.

She looked down at him with concern and closed her eyes painfully as she kissed him on his brow.

A soft knock came at the door and the queen bid the disturber to enter.

Lady Paulina bowed before her as she came into the room. "Forgive me, your highness. Advisor Vladimir wishes you should join him in his study."

"Tell him it can wait," said the queen bitterly through gritted teeth as she looked down sorrowfully at her husband.

"I'm afraid, my queen, that it may be urgent due to the state of King Jonathan," said the girl, her head bowed. "It would be my honor to assist the king at his ill hour."

Queen Madison stood up and walked away from her husband to face the girl. Her face was placid but a slight smile breeched her lips.

The queen looked at her with disdain and tears in her eyes. "The king has been poisoned. You very well know that. Do you honestly think I would leave his side to the company of a pupil?"

The girl blushed slightly and said, "I was not aware, your majesty. May I offer to guard the chamber?"

The queen sighed deeply and escorted herself and the girl out of the room, locking the chamber behind her and placing the key within her robes.

"And if he is to have a seizure, my queen?" the girl questioned meekly.

Madison considered this and looked at the girl. "Can I trust you?"

The girl looked at her somewhat pityingly and her eyes became downcast. "Trust no one," came her reply, which surprised the queen.

She looked at her in contemplation and then asked, "Has anyone visited the king without my knowledge?"

"No, my queen," answered the girl.

"And has anyone acted strangely?"

"If they did, your majesty would be first to know."

The queen nodded sadly and then handed the girl the key, though somewhat hesitantly.

Paulina watched the queen ascend up the stairs as she stared at the key in her hand and then called to her. "Your majesty, wait."

Queen Madison turned as the girl slightly came forward.

"There's a book. In the library. It's coated in blue velvet with an eagle crest on it and it's in the west corner. I stumbled across it when I was bored during my lesson. I think you might find it interesting."

"What do you -- ?" began the queen.

"Just believe me," said the girl, smiling slightly. "Vladimir Masters told me it was not for my eyes, but I believe it could hold the answers to some of your questions."

Queen Madison did not know what the girl was talking about, but took her to mean more than she comprehended. "You are certain it's still there?"

"It is said the book can only be revealed to the one who needs to read it most."

The queen had never heard of such a book, and most definitely did not know that such a mystical object resided in the very castle.

"Thank you," the queen said softly when she really wanted to ask why she was telling her this and continued up the stairs.

Before she made it to his study, however, the queen already met Vladimir walking toward her with a snide on his face. She halted her stroll and waited for him to reach her.

"Poor news, my queen," he said, attempting not to grin, "Medic Bertrand has just informed me that Jonathan's state is still deteriorating despite Sir Lancer's departure. It appears that he may still have allies within these very walls. Your orders?"

The queen brought her hands to her mouth at these words, but could not deny that she was only half-heartedly surprised. _Why? Why would someone do that? And who?_

She looked away as he awaited her reply.

"I don't know. I just don't know anymore," said the queen sorrowfully. "How could I?" she said, turning to look at him with glistening eyes.

He watched her solemnly and then replied, "I will search the grounds, my queen. Any evidence that suggests the culprit will be brought forth."

"Thank you," she said breathlessly, although she knew such evidence could hardly be found. His eyes squinted as he smiled, whipped his cape around, and continued down the hallway and out of sight.

Madison sighed. She knew she was desperate, desperate for anything that could at least give her the slightest _clue_ as to what was going on. What was it that Lady Paulina had said? A book. Yes, that's right, she had said something about a strange book in the library. Should she even bother, or would this just be another hollow cry for help? She had nothing better to do and so she proceeded into the dark dusty confinement lined with wooded bookshelves. She had never really paid much attention to it, but the place was eerie. Clearly not many had wondered into the deeper parts of the library, not even the students. Why would the girl know of anything? The queen began to have doubts as she proceeded to the shady corner of the library and a chill raised the hairs on the back of her neck. She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. Her eyes darted upward to see a large tapestry hanging on the wall. It had a portrait of someone she knew was a great writer, but she just couldn't place the name. He wore dark blue robes and a pair of spectacles rested over his green eyes while a mop of messy black hair swept over his features. He also had a somewhat untamed beard and held a book in his lap. She squinted to see the spine clearly. The eagle crest! Anticipation stirred inside of her at the discovery. She searched the bookshelf frantically with her fingers, but no such book that fit its resemblance could be found.

She suddenly felt the temperature in the library drop and began to shiver greatly, rubbing her arms vigorously to keep warm as she watched her breath escape her in small puffs of fog. How could it have gotten so cold so fast?

Her eyes immediately widened and she backed away in fear as she watched the books on the middle shelf of the bookcase begin to move aside to reveal a dusty book with an azure cover. She protruded a shaking hand in hesitation only to find the book move forward and open itself before her. A sharp gasp escaped her lips and she desperately wanted to run in any direction at all, but her feet were kept planted firmly onto the floor.

She looked around in panic to see if there was anyone or any_thing_ in the library with her, but found nothing of the like. Still hesitating and the temperature growing even lower, she made small steps toward the book. She was surprised to find that it had absolutely no writing in it, but a lot of its initial pages had been roughly ripped out, the broken notes edged on the spine. She brought her shaky hand to it once more to flip the blank pages that were still intact, but found her jaw slightly dropping as she witnessed letters form themselves on the page before her. When they stopped she found a small couplet written on the dusty parchment. Holding her breath deep within her chest, she read:

_Fools will ask of obvious truth_

_The wise inquire the lie_

_Since you are neither, skip the proof_

_And do not question why._

What in the world did that mean? Don't ask about the truth or the lie and don't ask for proof and don't ask why? What? How did that make any sense?

"Wh-What _should_ I ask?" said the queen nervously, reminding herself that she was, in fact, speaking to a book.

_The unknown_. She gasped. _It_ had heard her and _it_ had replied.

"A-Alright," said the queen, suddenly feeling bolder, although she could not tell why. "Alright, tell me...tell me who's the one unfaithful to the king?"

_Among the trusted, a traitor untried. _

She read the message hurriedly, her eyes darting at the page. That told her nothing. Of course whoever the traitor was she was trusting him. Or her. She trusted everyone.

"Yes, but who?"

_Another._

Her face fell as she guessed that the book perhaps did not know or could not tell her. She assumed it meant to ask it another question.

"Where is my son?"

_Not amidst the deceased but neither alive._

She considered this, though at first slightly startled. One of the four ghosts she had sent after Prince Daniel had told her something of the sort, that something strange had happened to him. And that elderly ghost had described him as a ghost. What could that mean? Daniel surely wasn't dead, but then what was he? Not dead but not alive...She shivered at the thought as well as the ice cold temperature. She needed to know more from the book before she froze to death.

"What of my husband?"

_The king will not live until his reign had died. _

What did that mean? Was that some kind of prophecy? She feared that someone would have to take Jack's place if something happened to him, but did this mean that there was some hope?

"There is a stone -- "

_Yes, it's power is something you must contrive._

"You know of it?"

_My knowledge is merely a mirror to thought._

She narrowed her eyes. So it was that the book did not know the answer to everything. It was simply guiding her, but to what? Did she already know the answers to her own questions? "I...feel foolish saying this, but I think it's overpowering me. It has me enchanted, I haven't stopped thinking about it since before Jack fell ill. What should I do?"

_Don't interfere. Gain what destiny has begot._

"But what is it? I wish to know -- "

_A heart of stone is a heart all the same. _

The cold was beginning to get unbearable and her knees were growing weak. This wasn't helping her, it was only making her all the more frustrated. She felt as if she was wasting her time talking to herself in front of a journal. "What is your purpose? What if I do not understand?"

She was taken aback to find the ink form itself into place on the parchment with its longest reply.

_My purpose is hardly to thoroughly explain_

_A message is all I have to proclaim,_

_But frailty is something you have to abstain._

Oh ho ho. Great advice. Just perfect. "And of the message?"

_Time unveils knowledge and knowledge gives light_

_Let fall in it's place and play part to the plight._

This time she scowled, her tone riveting. "Knowledge gives light? What do you --?"

_Do not play the fool. _

"And the wise?"

_Only in anticipation of consequences._

"Consequences?"

_The inevitable._

Her stance was failing and she could no longer feel her arms or nose. She knew she had to leave. "What are you?"

_A writer and his composition._

"Of?"

_All and nothing. _

"Are you a ghost?" she said accusingly, looking around to find nothing. The book had paused this time and only replied after the moment of hesitation.

_You have questioned your line of curiosity. Concentrate on the solution, not the problem. Recite the verse every night before sleep. You must leave now._

"But --"

The page on which the writing had occurred was suddenly ripped out as if by an invisible hand and vanished. She gasped and backed further away, embracing warmer temperature. The book shut loudly and was moved back to its original place as the other books once again collapsed before it and obscured it from sight.

She ran out of the library, embracing even warmer temperature and walked away hurriedly, rehearsing the rhyme in her mind. _Among the trusted, a traitor untried, The prince not amidst the deceased but neither alive, the king will not live until his reign has died..._

She did not notice a squire running toward her as she kept her eyes lowered and her arms around herself, walking at a fast pace.

"Your majesty! Your majesty!" he called, panting.

She stopped in only an afterthought.

The boy was young and bore blonde hair, she noticed, as he bowed before her. "Your majesty...Lady Paulina has been caught poisoning the king. Treason!"

"_What!_" the queen exclaimed in objection. _Don't interfere. Gain what destiny has begot._

How was that possible? She had trusted Lady Paulina, who had helped her. Why would _she_ of all people poison the king? She already knew she was suspicious of her.

"Come at once to the Grand Hall, your majesty," said the youth.

She followed him in his hurried wake.

"I did not get your name, squire," she told him coldly. Something prevented her from trusting him, it seemed too outlandish. All of it.

"Dashiell, your majesty," said the boy earnestly. When they reached the Grand doors, he held them open for her and bowed as she entered. Lady Paulina was clutched on each arm by two guards, her face bowed in guilt. Vladimir stood beside them, his hands folded at his back as the queen took her thrown, a scowl on her face.

She knew she had to speak first, she simply did not know what to say. "Explain," was the only word that could come out of her mouth.

Madison looked to the girl and she did not avert her eyes. Her face, that which had always appeared fair in youth and beauty was torn in sorrow. She just could not have committed such a crime.

Paulina opened her mouth humbly to speak when Vladimir's booming voice shattered the silence, "A scoundrel and an impurity to the kingdom. This woman was found administrating poison into the king's drink! Squire Dashiell admitted to having witnessed the vile act."

The hall was filled with silence again as Madison's eyes watered in anger. "And to what does _Squire_ Dashiell admit his presence by the King's chamber?"

"Only on my orders to guard it," said Vladimir in a silky tone. It made her shiver slightly in displeasure.

She turned once more to the girl who had not spoken a word. She wanted to refuse to believe it, but yet there she had been, with key at hand standing by the king's chamber. And she had left her there. "To what do you testify, Lady Paulina?" she said monotonously.

The girl began to weep and Vladimir scowled. "G-Guilty, m-my queen."

Queen Madison gasped, bringing a hand to her mouth. So she admitted it. "How could you?" the queen replied bitingly, looking away from the weeping girl. Her sobs resounded against the enormous walls and the queen turned her head from her in disgust. "Take her away," she spat.

The young woman's cries only shattered the Grand Hall even more as the guard's grips on her tightened and she was forcibly led out of the castle.

Vladimir remained before the queen as she stared down into the velvet carpet, a sober tear rolling down her cheek.

"Such dreadful deception, my queen," Vladimir spoke sympathetically.

Her head snapped to him. She said nothing but simply met his blank gaze.

"I just want it all to stop," she breathed. "It shouldn't be like this..."

"Of course not, my queen," he said admirably and bent down on one knee before her, taking her hands into his own. "My only honor is to protect you from any harm."

She nodded and looked down at his hand which was holding her own. She took it out of his grasp so she could meet it with her other palm.

"There may be a better way," he spoke in a heavy tone.

She looked at him quizzically.

"And what, pray tell, is that?"

"There...is a law," he spoke mystically. "It states in the Chronicles of Amity that should a king fall ill or in dispose to govern the kingdom and no heirs are to take his place, the king himself is able to appoint the new ruler. Through marriage to the queen, of course. I had discussed the terms with him if ever anything of the like were to happen..."

She frowned at him, her heart pounding at her chest at the prospect.

He took her hand in his once more. "...Maddie, he appointed me to protect this kingdom, to protect you. If this keeps up, you stand too great a threat... I'm afraid it is the only way..."

She stood up briskly. "Preposterous!" she snapped. "I will not give up on Jack or Daniel! And of all...to marry_ you_, Vlad? How can I possibly even contemplate letting the kingdom move forward without them!"

"Now, now, Maddie -- "

"_Queen!_ Your Queen Madison!" she said angrily, whisking her hand from his once more.

He drew back his hands in apology as she huffed and stepped away from him, facing her back to him.

"Perhaps you would simply...consider? You are not safe, and you are all that is left, my queen. Take that away and all that you and the king have worked for would have been in vain. I'm sure he would not want that now, would he? Who do you know better to manage the kingdom of Amity then myself? I cannot guarantee Jonathan's recovery, no one can. It is time to take precaution."

She sighed heavily, her heart still pounding violently in her chest.

"At least, my queen, do take it into...consideration," he said, getting to his feet and leaving her standing beside her alter.

She couldn't. She couldn't possibly consider something like this. To leave Jonathan and marry that...that...She had no word for him. As much as she trusted him, he still repulsed her.

_A heart of stone is a heart all the same. _

She walked over to Jonathan's throne and glazed it gently with the palm of her hand. She wanted her king to live and she wanted her son to be safely back at the castle. She kneeled before the king's throne and an illumination suddenly flashed before her eyes: the one thing she seemed to want as much as any of it, and how she cursed herself for it. She could almost feel the amber tingle beneath her fingertips as she clutched the armrest of the throne and tears escaped her eyes because the pain and worry over the ones she loved competed with her obsession. She was torn and broken and she knew not what to do. Perhaps Vladimir was right, perhaps it was necessary to take precaution, especially with the state she was in. But no, how could she give up? She felt herself grow weaker as she wept evermore. She needed time to collect herself and make the right decision.

_Time unveils knowledge and knowledge gives light_

_Let fall in it's place and play part to the plight._

_**zomg! It's liek Ghost Writer! Hez so hot! haha. Yeah, I figured Maddie needed some help. I'm glad I brought him in actually, he's cool. By the way, my "poetry" totally sucks. It's kinda hard though when you're trying to get a conversation across, but I tried my best. Don't kill meh! And, don't worry, you're not supposed to understand what most of that random jumble means in the poem. It's just important to Maddie right now. Vlad, meanwhile, is killing two birds with one stone. Literally. **_

_**This was, by the way, the last Madison chapter. I'm gonna miss them, I like writing her character a lot. She'll be back again only at the very end. I know Paulina appeared somewhat nice, but honestly, take away the status of popularity and Paulina is honestly not that bad a person. I kinda feel bad for her, she was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.**_

_**And, urgh, school starts next week. How dull. This is honestly one of the few things keeping me sane right now. That's a good thing too seeing as I still need to do a bunch of crud to prepare. **_

_**Your reviews, by the way, were amazing, guys! Thank you so much again. I'd love to hear more from you!**_


	8. Warrior

**Summary: **AU. Caught in the middle of Vladimir Master's evil plot to take over the Kingdom of Amity, Prince Daniel is turned into a half-ghost. Now he must flee for his life, hide in the company of two new allies, and fight his way back to the throne. DxS

**Disclaimer: **Butch and Nick own Danny and Co.

_**To my reviewers: Thanks for that again. This is a relatively quick update, I think, considering. Hopefully I didn't rush it, but enjoy. **_

**Chapter 8: Warrior**

"Twenty leagues? More like twenty _cliffs!_" Tucker objected as they witnessed an inevitable mountain ridge come between them and their destination. They reached well into the clouds, but were relatively small for mountains. Still, they sunk deep into the forest and there was no way around other than across. With Samantha's sprained ankle, unfortunately, there was little chance they could climb their way up.

"Casper must be on the other side," Daniel said quietly. He was deep in thought. On the one hand, he could take them into the sky and easily surpass the giant, on the other, he was still in pursuit by the ghosts, sensing their aura's nearing every now and then and he could not risk running low on spectral energy. It would be a difficult risk to take.

Samantha's arm was slouched around Tucker as she ached uncomfortably from her attempt to walk. She noticed Daniel's meditating gaze and saw his features grow in anger. Was he angry at her? It wasn't her fault that she had hurt her foot. Perhaps she could have paid a bit more attention to where she was going, but he wouldn't really blame her, would he?

She winced, ready for him to scorn her as he turned his head to the two and opened his mouth, but instead he said, "I'll have to rest half-way." Tucker's eyebrows furrowed. "For precaution," Daniel confirmed.

Tucker looked at Samantha and she nodded, though slightly taken aback. He opened his mouth to reply, but Daniel had already appeared behind them and lifted them both into the air, each at his side.

Samantha gasped as she and her friend were elevated above the ground, immediately embracing the familiar cool temperature and rush of air. The cold from Daniel's embrace over her suddenly erased her thoughts on the pain in her foot. The warm air around her washed over her and combined with the cool to provide a relatively stable temperature and she felt as if she could breathe properly for the first time in a long time. She looked over at her friend in the ghost's other arm and noticed that his fear of hights had suddenly dawned upon him, but he bore the same expression as hers when he witnessed the scenery below them. The rocky terrain was filled with green and further on, just past them, they could both catch a glimpse of a large castle amongst a town that seemed rather minuscule from their perspective.

Daniel squinted as his eyes were on Casper, noticing peculiar shapes flying above the kingdom as they were. Were they birds? If so, they must be pretty big if he could see them from that distance. Daniel frowned. And yet, they were so close, but risking his safety made it all seem to be further away. He hated the irony of his limitations. And what of the round trip? He had not contemplated how he would return or how he was going to present himself to Jazmine either. As a matter of fact, he hadn't given it much thought at all. The thought of letting his identity slip unnerved him, mostly because he knew he still had to hide it from Samantha and Tucker. He only wished there was another Desiree he could speak to when he got there, things were so much easier when he had advice; being on his own did him no good.

They had been in the air for a while, fifteen minutes perhaps, when Daniel's worry ignited, and he knew he had to set them down if he planned on carrying on through any further tasks. Samantha's and Tucker's stomachs lurched as he rapidly began to descend and they looked up at him, questioning his hold on them, but he remained firm and simply placed them down on large cliff as their feet lightly touched the ground.

"Rest time?" asked Tucker as Daniel freed them of his grasp.

Daniel flinched and did not reply at first. He walked away from the cliff and toward the shade of several tall trees, and kicked at one of them with his leg, which fell over at superhuman strength.

He looked over at the two of them, who gaped at him.

"Make sure she sits down. It should stabalize the flow of blood to her legs after the flight, which should ease the pain. And don't wonder off while I have a look around."

Tucker walked Samantha numbly over to the fallen tree to sit her down, and she protruded her ankle, feeling it indeed slightly more releaved than before.

"Look aroud where?" asked Tucker, slightly confused at the proposition.

Daniel glared as he turned around. "Just stay put," he sneered and walked off, soon vanishing from sight deeper into the mountain.

"Odd," said Tucker, brushing off the comment as he leaned over to Samantha, who had now ignored her foot and was looking deeply off toward the abyss.

"Sam? What's with you?"

She smiled slightly to herself.

"He does care," she said in a small voice, still not looking at Tucker and having a slight feeling of euphoria overcome her. It felt...nice. Not that she cared that he cared she just...well...felt good about it. Wasn't that what everyone was supposed to feel? But Tucker had cared and she didn't feel..._that_ way. Did she?

Tucker witnessed a slight blush creep onto her cheeks and he smirked knowingly as he sat down next to her.

_But he's hiding something from you. You could even call it lying. Isn't that horrible?_ she thought.

No, it wasn't. Because she could trust him, she knew.

_You're too naive for your own good,_ she heard a voice say at the back of her head.

And so are you, but you don't see me complaining.

Tucker began to chuckle softly next to her and she whipped her head around to face him with a puzzled expression on her face.

"What?" she asked quizically.

Tucker smiled smugly and said pointedly, "You like him."

She turned crimson and retorted. "Do not!"

"Yeah, Sam. You're so vague," said Tucker dully. "_'Oh Daniel, I trust you, Daniel! You're so handsome and noble and such a brave knight! Even though you killed that ghost and bossed me around and said all those mean things to me! I still trust you, Daniel! What about me, Daniel? Oh you _do_ care, Daniel!'" _he mimiked giddily in a high pitched tone as he waved his hands about in falce excitement. "Or should I say..._Danny?" _

Samantha glared and pushed him backwards off his seat.

Tucker was laughing loudly until he hit the ground painfully and his hat landed on his face. He peered at her through it, still smirking.

"See what I mean? Vague."

"Oh shut up," she grumbled, folding her arms and slouching as she looked away.

Tucker sat back up in somewhat of a sturuggle and his laughter slowly died down.

"I do trust him, even if I am letting him get away with whatever it is he's hiding," she said firmly.

"Ha! I knew it!" said Tucker, slapping his hand over his thingh.

"No," said Samantha, glaring daggers, "the only thing you should know is that you're a complete moron!"

He was silenced by this, though not offended. It was not at all easy talking to a person in denial.

"Anyway," she said. "It's not like he..."

"Like he what?" asked Tucker, cocking his eyebrow up menacingly.

Samantha frowned. "You know what, you're unberable," she said, bringing her arms up and down beside herself in a frustrated gesture.

"True," he said, bringing a finger up in exclamation, "but you know what this means, don't you?"

Her squinted eyes widened somewhat as she looked at him. "What?" she said slowly and anxiously.

"You need to tell him," he said, snickering.

She scoffed. "Tell him! I'm not telling him anything! He's...he's...he's just as preposterous as you! Even worse. He's _horrid_, I don't -- "

"You know there's a chance he might be around to hear that," Tucker said quietly but dangerously.

Samantha yelped and quickly clapsed a hand over her mouth, looking about frantically with her eyes.

He laughed once more. "Oh, I'm just kidding! Honestly, take a hint, Sam. Just go for it. What's the worst that could happen?"

She sniffed. "The worst that could happen is that I can't _stand _him," she said in a hushed tone.

"But you like him?"

"Yes -- No! I..." she looked away in anger at herself while Tucker grinned. "He can be...different...if he wants but..."

"He's still a ghost."

"Yes."

"So?"

"So?" Samantha retorted. She doubted Tucker ever had a point.

Tucker scowled at her. "You're gonna make it one of those I-can't-tell-you-how-I-feel-until-I-know-you-feel-the-same-way things, aren't you?"

"No," she said with a snide. "Because there are no feelings to tell," she concluded.

Tucker sighed in exasperation, knowing he had failed to get through to her, and shook his head.

"All right, your royal pain in the butt. Do as you see fit," he said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she snapped as she tensed.

"I think it means exactly what I said it means," said Tucker plainly, getting off the log and lying himself on the ground beside her feet, placing his wrapped arms behind his head and closing his eyes in rest. "Besides that," he added, "You're also kind of paranoid."

Samantha's face appeared in worry, but she looked down at her ankle to see the swelling had gone down. She grazed her foot gently with her hand and bit her lip, looking in the direction of Daniel's departure.

--------------------------

Daniel walked through the forest, keeping up with his own pace. His sences were upheaved and he knew he had to get away as far as possible from the other two.

It would be his third challenge. He could feel it. The aura had been growing deeper and stronger ever since they landed, as he had expected, but he wouldn't fight in vain.

He stopped as he reached a clearence on the slope and pulled his sword from his side, keeping his firm on the ground.

A well-built and armored ghost materialized several feet before him, grinning maliciously, weapon at hand. His eyes glowed a haunting blue and his green hair fell on his face behind his helmet.

Daniel pointed his sword at him and the ghost did likewise.

"Prince Daniel," he spoke in a hallow tone, "I challenge you to a feat."

Daniel laughed lightly. "Oh really? How very polite of you. I must say it's more of a heads up that my other challenges."

"That's because they were women, of course. You can never expect a woman to game fair, can you?"

Daniel scowled and tightened the grip on his sword. "I disagree."

"Then we have something to spar over, don't we?" replied the ghost, before vanishing from sight and appearing behind him, Daniel's startled sense sending a reflex to the action only at the last moment as his sword clashed with his own.

The weapon forced Daniel back as the warrior applied a great force from his upper body. He landed softly on his feet and gritted his teeth. "I never asked, thought I doubt it to matter, what name I was sparing against?"

"Sir Skulker to you, your _majesty_," he spat as his sword descended upon the prince and he quickly dodged it, whiping around to his side where Skulker met the weapon once more in several clashes. Daniel sent a blast of spectral energy from his hand when the ghost failed to meet his sword once more, but the blast simply bounced off the armor and Daniel's eyes widened as he was forced to duck down.

"Unfortunate, isn't it?" Skulker laughed as he brought his sword down below Daniel's feet, who jumped to avoid it and then met the other weapon once more.

Their swords clashed thrise more as Daniel was forced to equal his disappearing acts and attempt to outweigh the strength of his armor, but finally, the ghost laughed as Daniel's sword slipped suddenly from his hand and went flying in the opposite direction. Panicked but determined not to surrender, the prince growled and sent all possible spectral energy from his hands toward his opponent. The firepower resulted in a large dust cloud forming itself about the challenger and Daniel finally heard a cry of agony as he decidedly guessed that one of his shots had successfully come between a space in the armor. When no other reaction came, however, he stopped fire and awaited for the smoke to clear. His face fell when the curtain of dust unmasked nothing. He suddenly tensed and scavenged his surrounding for sight of the ghost, but something told him that if he were still engaged in battle and was going to attack again, he would have already done so. He also seemed to have the ability to teleport himself seeing as his aura had temporarily completely vanished. Satisfied and convinced that he had won, he searched around for his lost sword, but it was no where to be found. He could have been certain of the direction of which it had gone flying and had searched frantically, even phasing through the ground at one point, but found no trace of it.

If he took it, thought Daniel, there would be hell to pay. And from the looks of it, that is exactly what he had done. Daniel cursed to hismelf and stormed off back to the rest site.

He came stomping furiously through the forest, brushing annoying branches out of his face and ignoring the fact that he had broken off most of them to find Tucker resting on the ground with his arms behind his head and Samantha having slid down and resting her back against the tree, her eyes draped in sleep.

"Wake up!" Daniel snarled as Samantha slightly jumped in place and Tucker merely opened his eyes, one eye squinting at the sun that was above him.

"Is something wron --?" began Samantha, but was cut off as Daniel suddenly kicked the tree that was lying there once more, but this time sent it rolling vigorously past the cliff and off the mountain.

Samantha and Tucker looked at him with fearful expressions as Daniel cursed to himself once more and paced in place.

That sword had been his only weapon, it was all he had to really protect himself against other ghosts. Hell, he wasn't even full ghost, he knew they were far more powerful than him without it. If he didn't find it, and find it soon, he didn't know what he would do. What if Skulker came back? In all his honor, he doubted he was all too chivalrous.

"My sword is gone," Daniel snapped as he finally stopped pacing but did not face the two dazed mortals on the ground.

"What?" said Tucker. "What do you mean? You lost it? How?"

Daniel glared at him, his eyes narrowed. "I didn't _lose_ it, it was taken from me."

He was forced to witness both Tucker and Samantha's oblivious glances before he sighed in frustrationa and explained. "In battle; I was faced in combat."

"With who, Bigfoot?" asked Tucker curiously, wondering what kind of opponent he could have found in the midst of a mountain range.

Daniel balled his fists at his side and grunted. "It isn't important," he said stifly. "What's important now is that I can't find my sword, and we're not leaving here until I find it!"

"But Casper -- it's right there!" Tucker whined, pointing in the visible direction of the kingdom.

Daniel's head snapped to him in warning as his green eyes glowed fiercely.

"We'll help look for your sword," Samantha said suddenly.

"We'll what?" Tucker objected, scowling in frustration.

"Well, Tucker will. I'm pretty much still indisposed," said Samantha as she glared at her friend.

Daniel's expression softened and his rage slightly subsided.

Tucker glowered but then said, "Fine," as he got to his feet and brushed himself off, "Let's go look for your sword."

"Not yet," said Daniel suddenly, thinking Skulker may well return. Tucker looked at him questioningly. "I need to regain my strength first," he said as he sat down not far from Samantha. Tucker nodded and also slumped down next to him.

"Are you all right?" said Samantha as he had brought a hand to his arm out of which he had fired most vigorously. So he was losing spectral energy, perhaps that was what was causing him all of those dull anoyanced in random part of his body. But that couldn't be it, last time he didn't even need to use his powers.

"I'm fine. Just don't touch me," he said quietly but sternly.

Samantha had shifted closer to him and he cringed as she reached a hand out to him and simply hesitated momentarily at his comment, then continued to protrude her hand.

"I said don't touch me!" Daniel yelled, as she immediately pulled her hand back and stood up. His angered expression turned to one of amusement as she tried to balance on her injured foot and stormed off, limping.

"Sam! You can't walk off, you're hurt!" cried Tucker.

"Watch me!" she snapped to them and proceeded away.

"Don't wonder too far!" he yelled after her.

"Don't tell me what to do!" she snapped from a distance.

Tucker turned to Daniel, who was still somewhat taken aback by her reaction and said, "What's wrong with you? You know she was only trying to help."

Daniel's expression faded and was replaced by a grimace. "I've had enough help from her, thanks."

Tucker scowled, but then his displeasure turned into guilt. "Look...if it's about, you know...earlier..."

Daniel had absolutely no idea what he was talking about, but listened attentively nevertheless.

"About what?"

"I...well you see...If Sam appeared to want to _trick_ you into telling her your secret, well, that's kind of my fault. See, it was I that told her to do it."

Daniel blinked and processed the information.

"But not because I wanted to know, she just seemed...intersted," said Tucker quickly.

"You...told her to seduce me?" he questioned blankly.

Tucker furrowed his eyebrows. "Seduce you, no I -- oh. So that's what she -- Oh!" Tucker suddenly reddened and shut his mouth rather tightly. "Whoops."

Daniel observed him with mingled curiosity. "I'm not angry with her at that," he told him simply.

Tucker's embarassed expression turned into one of bemusement. "You're...not?" he asked, baffled. He smirked slightly to himself after hearing Daniel's response and then asked, "But then what -- ?"

"It's...difficult," said Daniel, looking down at the ground and smiling slightly. "She's annoying beyond measure, isn't she?" he said admirably.

Tucker laughed and rubbed his eye. "She said the same of you."

"Did she now?" Daniel said inquisitively, raising his head to him.

"Er...sure," said Tucker, recalling their convesation. At least, she had said something along those lines. How was that a good thing, again?

Daniel smiled.

It was a very good thing.

"Eh, you get used to it," Tucker said, smiling. "It all depends on how you look at it. See, when she's nervous she -- "

"You said you didn't want to know my secret," Daniel interrupted him. "Why not?"

Tucker paused, unsure of the question. He then smiled warmly and said, "Look, Sam isn't the only one that trusts you. You've saved our lives and we've saved yours. If you're willing to go through that trouble with us, I say I don't care what or who you are. What I'll stay loyal to is your word, Daniel. What else really matters? We're friends now."

Daniel sat up slightly at this proclamation, one he had definitely not expected. "Friends?" he questions, somewhat dully. Had he ever had any people that he could call _friends_ in his life? There was his sister, but she was family. And then there was Sir Lancer and Lady Paulina, of course, but they were more of the people that he would occasionally see at the castle, not really anyone he could call his _friend_. But did Tucker mean it? And if he did, did Daniel really consider him to really be his...friend?

"Sure," said Tucker, beaming. His expression then froze. "That's not a problem, is it?" he said in a somewhwat nervous tone.

"Er...no," said Daniel, smirking.

"Good," said Tucker earnestly, whiping the sweat from his brow. "You know," said Tucker as he watched him, "If you need any weapons, I'm loaded."

"What?" asked Daniel in surprise.

"You thought this little red cape was just for the ladies?" said Tucker, smirking.

Daniel snorted.

"Check it out," said Tucker as he revealed several inconspicuous pockets in his clothing that gathered everything from daggers to razors, axes, boomerangs and swords.

Daniel's eyebrows shot up in amusemnt. "How do you carry all that stuff?"  
"Yeah, you know, it's all in the muscle," said Tucker.

Daniel's aspect remained firm. "No seriously."

Tucker's smug expression failed and he replied, "It's all in the comformoty of the right cut in the said article of clothing. I've spent most of my life studying weapons. Told you I was into them. The right proportion to your body and the right balance allows you to carry more weaponry as if it's your own weight."

"Becuase you're _constantly_ engaged in battle," Daniel said sardonically.

Tucker scowled. "Hey, my mom said I needed a hobby."

"Your mom?" said Daniel, grinning.

Tucker turned a light shade of pink and said, "Do you want this stuff or not?"

Daniel looked away, his amused exression turning into a grave one. "There is none like my sword, you know that."

Tucker nodded solemnly in silent agreement.

"And you knew this wasn't over yet," came a dark voice from behind them and both Daniel and Tucker immediately stood up as they whipped around.

Daniel scowled and clenched his fists as Skulker floated there, his weapon before him.

"Tucker," he said to the shaken boy beside him, "I need you to go and find my sword."

"But -- "

"Go! Now!" said Daniel as he rushed toward Skulker and dodged his sword to hit him against his chest so that he fell back.

Hesitating slightly, Tucker then ran off into the woods. _Now if I was a sword, where would I be?_

--------------------------

Samantha had walked the perimiter of the mountain, still limping at her foot, but finding it a lot esier to walk. She refused to have tears or any other signs of weakness in her eyes, only frustration. What conquered her most, however, was her inability to decipher at how she could possibly let that pompous jerk treat her in such a manner! Didn't he know who she was! She at least deserved some respect, she was --

Actually, he really wouldn't know who she was and wouldn't believe her if she told him. She cursed herself for being in this mess in the first place, but was proud of herself for at least having gotten this far. After all, anyone to survive the company of a semi-abonoxious yet attractive ghost for the rights of good should be considered worthy of some kind of honor. Not that she was interested in any such earthly possesion. And not that she was _necessarily_ attracted to him. She simply wanted --

Her trail of thought broke off into panic as she had now completed a full roundabout of the mountain and had returned to the place where she had started, only to find Daniel lying on the ground. She contemplated running up to him only to see another ghost knight hovering over him and hesitated, reminding herself of what happened in previous circumstances with the dragon.

"I don't get it. Why not finish me?" the prince spat. "I have no weapon and I am down."

"You do not surrender," he spoke in return.

"Clearly," said the prince angrily. "Never."

"Alas, there in lies the problem. I can't kill you," Skulker spoke, looking down on him. "Either you surrender or you are of no use to me."

Daniel's eyes narrowed as he looked up at the ghost. "So your weapon can kill ghosts too, eh?"

Skulker laughed. "Of course, prince. Do you suspect yours is special in any way? It is a ghost's weapon that you need. Fortunately, you don't have one at the moment...so how to go about this...?"

"I still won't surrender, if that's what you want," the prince spat.

"Dually noted," said Skulker as his head snapped to Samantha after he caught sight of her from the corner of his eye.

She gasped when she saw his glowing eyes and malicious grin upon her and stepped backward, only to see him vanish from sight.

Taken by surprise at this, she ran over to Daniel who was still on the ground. He did not appear injured but was rather in shock at the ghost's intentions.

"Daniel!" she said as she bend down next to him and brought a hand toward him to help him up. He held her by the wrist instead and said, "Where's Tucker?"

She shook her head at the question and was suddenly clasped around the neck to Daniel's horror by an invisible hand. She dangled above the ground aimlessly, hands reaching to her throat for sign of release, when Skulker materialized to reveal his fingers tight around her neck.

Daniel lept up in anger and charged at him when Skulker placed Samantha in front of him and laughed as Daniel stopped in his tracks.

"You see, as I said, women are not fair at game at all," he spoke over her and Daniel's fists glowed violently green. "For example, they greatly affect your judgement. Now, catch!"

He swung the arm that had been grasping Samantha around in force and released her over the cliff. Immediately, Daniel ran and leapt of the edge after her, gaining speed toward her falling and screaming form. He caught her and had just enough energy to hold the two of them up against a slight ledge off the cliff as Skulker laughed above them.

_I still can't fly...that bastard, he knew!_

"It's your choice, now," Skulker yelled down to them and then appeared floating before them off the cliff as the space in which they were forced to keep still was so small that Samantha was backed against the wall while Daniel's feet barely balanced off the edge. Her breath turned to ice before her; he was too close. "Either you surrender, or she dies."

Daniel turned his glaring face away from Skulker and toward Samantha, just inches before him, who's lips had turned full blue and breath become stiff and shaky.

"D-Danny, p-p-please," she begged as tears rand down her eyes, her form shaking immensely. "I-I k-k-know y-you're h-human s-somew-where in th-there, j-just p-plese, d-don't l-let me d-die," she said in a expiring tone. "Change b-back."

Realization of circumstance swarmed over him and he felt anger boil up inside of him. He was angry at Vladimir for doing this to him, he was angry at losing his own sword, he was angry at Skulker's maniacal intentions, and he was angry that he still did not know how to return to his human self.

"I'm sorry," he whispered sadly to her as she had looked up at him in hope and suddenly her expression shattered. "I don't know how."

She searched his eyes for hope that he wasn't telling the truth, but found an empty void as she now could not feel most of her body and was slipping down the wall.

"P-P-Please," she begged, even her nose now turning blue and her head stiffening in its upright possition.

Daniel watched the girl's dying form before him and, knowing her death would be his fault, he felt his eyes water and rare cold tears run down his face.

This is what it all came down to, the girl or the kingdom.

He looked down below them, it was a long drop. He was already half-ghost. Perhaps if he became full ghost, he would be able to change things so that he could fly again and he could save her.

He gave her a look of deep regret as she slid even further down the wall and he was about to drop when Skulker held a sword up before him and said, "There won't be any of that, now, will there? Fair game, prince, fair game."

Daniel leaned away, knowing that if he died by the sword, Samantha would die anyway. He turned to her once more to notice that she was barely awake as one of her eyes had closed and the other was barely open.

"She's dying," laughed Skulker. "What do you say, Prince Daniel? Surrender would be an order? Unless of course, she means nothing to you. She's merely a girl."

Daniel's eyes glowed completely green as he gave a menacing scowl and managed to emitt a large wad of spectral energy toward Skulker, which he simply dodged. "You're already weak, why waste it? Give it up, Prince Daniel. Observe, she faints."

Daniel turned in panic to witness that she had suddenly passed out from the proximity and he held her up by the arm. He could almost feel her pulse dying. _She_ was dying.

He couldn't feel it, he didn't want to feel it, but it was there. A subtle feeling of hate and spite mixed with guilt built up at his chest as the fragile from of the girl was limp beside him and Skulker's hideous hovering form was laughing before him. He clenched his fists and squinted his eyes as he scremed. But it wasn't just a scream. It was so much more. The wail penetrated the ghost before him as it resounded throught the rift. Most of his energy, all of which he was conserving, had gone into that wail. The adversary was blasted all the way to the other side of the ridge and nailed into the wall.

Daniel's knees slightly gave in once he had stopped screaming, but Samantha's dying body compensated for his weakness.

The tears in his eyes had never left him and he once again contemplated jumping off the cliff, knowing of no other way to save her until he heard the most wonderful words he could hope to break past his ears.

"Daniel!" yelled Tucker down to him, who had clearly heard the booming scream that resounded through the valley. "What are you doing down there? I found it! I have your sword!"

Too weak to grin as the blade came falling down to him, he firmly caught it in his right hand while his left still kept a hold of the barely-living Samantha.

He looked down and her and whispered, "I'm sorry," once more as the sword grew with spectral energy and was crashed into the side of the cliff, sending a shockwave through the rock that broke it in parts.

"Wh-Whoa! Daniel, what the hell did you do!" yelled Tucker from above as he witnessed the ground below him begin to crumble.

"Hold on!" Daniel yelled below him.

Within seconds, the rock parted from the cliff and the three were sent falling down into the abyss along with it.

_**Wow. A cliffhanger. Get it? Cliff. Hanger. Hahaha. Wow, I am evil. Well, this was the task challenging his "strength" after all. I think that did it justice, don't you? Just smile and nod. There you go! I know it seems like the first three tasks are obsessively about Sam, but that's because Daniel's obsessed with her. You'll see. Man, but this chapter was for some reason so much fun to write. I couldn't restrain myself. I got all...author-y. Yes. I actually think I anticipated writing this task most. How horrible, now everyone's going to think I'm suicidal. Hah. That's not funny, actually. Yes, well, hope you enjoyed it. Do give me some of your wonderful reviews so I may go all author-y on you again. You know you want me too!...That sounded kinda creepy, but please don't get discouraged! Until next time...when they all die. Kidding! Or am I?...Nope, kidding. I think.**_


	9. Refugee

**Summary: AU. Caught in the middle of Vladimir Master's evil plot to take over the Kingdom of Amity, Prince Daniel is turned into a half-ghost. Now he must flee for his life, hide in the company of two new allies, and fight his way back to the throne. DxS**

**Disclaimer: Butch and Nick own Danny and Co. **

**So sorry for not updating for so long, I know it's been months. This year's been killing me, however, since it is my senior year and I barely have time for kicking back and doing whatever I want, which would include this. I've gotten all my college apps out, however, so now I've got some breathing space on my hands. Before that there was just no way I could afford to update. Hopefully it was worth the wait. If not, tell me what I can do to make it better! **

**Chapter 9: Refugee**

The kingdom of Casper, like all such kingdoms, had always been closely regarded by the Kingdom of Amity, one of the largest kingdoms in the seven lands. And as such, Queen Jazmine's chances of keeping her rule would soon run thin, which is exactly why she had long turned to magic for her solutions. It seemed like a weak thing to give into for someone like her but, then again, she had given into arranged marriage.

Her brilliant turquoise gown fell to the floor as she leaned over a balcony after an exhausting and heated debate with the council of Casper. Again her decisions were questioned and again she had to assure them that she had the ghosts' jeopardy under her protection from the kingdom of Amity and her father.

As much as she hated to admit it, however, she clearly agreed with their worry. Her method was highly dangerous, but Frederick had assured her, after all, again and again, that everything was at absolute ease as long as no other magician intervened. In other words, he said it was all "inevitably dramatic."

She sighed into the clear blue sky and knew she had to prepare to write her theoretical parchment on foreseeable debates as well as refresh her current study of medical herbs. She felt like a traitor to her parents' wishes but also reminded herself that her life was hers to deal with and should not be controlled by strained events. It was all too obvious to her that this was, indeed, what she was destined to do and, even though she did not believe in prophecies, she did believe in fate. She knew not of the turmoil in Amity, nor of her father's illness, but she had heard of informed travelers proclaiming the missing prince. She knew Daniel well and was certain he could take care of himself, but she also knew that something had to have gravely upset him to make him run away; she knew him better than anyone. If he had any common sense, she reminded herself, he would be on his way to consult her about his problems. She did not lie, however, she knew him better than that.

"Queen Jazmine!"

"K-King Elliot!" she replied, startled, as she suddenly ran into him and his travel party in the hall. "I had not heard of your return. The messenger must not have gotten to me."

"Than I shall see to it that he is prosecuted! What a lousy carry-out of a job -- "

"Oh, goodness, no!" exclaimed the Queen, shocked by the proclamation. "I must have been in my study. I asked for no one to disturb me."

"Ah!" exclaimed the king, though looking rather disappointed, "very well then." He placed his arms on his hips and observed the surroundings as if expecting something. He was young, barely in his thirties, but his hair was such a pale blonde that it appeared white as it fell beneath his gold crown. His mute green eyes seemed satisfied at what he saw while the queen stood humbly beside him with her hands intertwined in each other somewhat nervously.

"The castle looks lovely, doesn't it, Sir Kwan?"

"Indeed. The Queen has proven more than capable with the kingdom as well. She is quite the authority," replied the Asian knight.

"Do explain," said King Elliot as she took him by the arm and began to walk him to the Grand hall, "how was it that you managed a treaty with the Kingdom of Amity. We have such a lovely party now with all of those -- oh what are they again? -- ghosts. Ah, yes of course."

"You...have no objections, then?" asked the Queen. An air of alcohol protruded from his mouth and he and his men barely kept steady.

"Considering I merely skimmed over your letters I dare say I don't, but I do hate to bother myself with all the political nonsense and what not. You're doing such an excellent job of it already. Why bother and, I say, why not?"

"Oh," said the Queen, somewhat sadly. She smiled slightly at him and nodded. "Perhaps you are right. After all, you place trust in my decisions."

"Only for the sake that they are yours alone," replied the King, placing an arm around her which she uncomfortably accepted. The servants had prepared a welcoming feast for the king and he and the queen took their head seats as his party settled themselves about the table.

"I do ask but when was it that we last held a grand celebration in your honor?"

"M-My honor?" asked the Queen, blushing lightly. "But what have I -- ?"

"Of course!" replied the king, draining the wine from his cup. "You have all the rights to be honored for such a brilliant job while I was away. I say a ball is an order, gentlemen!"

His voice roared through the hall and the queen scowled in disprovement as the knights responded in jeer; she knew this mood of his. It was waggish, it was perturbed and it was certainly sick. He was drunk.

"And celebrate the bridge, of course!"

"Bridge?"

"And to a stronger Casper!"

"To the King and Queen!"

"My King -- ?"

"And to the ball!"

"Yes, the ball!"

"We must invite all of Casper!"

"Why not? All of Manson! All of Amity!" He laughed.

"No, we should really make it a small ball -- "

"To the wine!"

"You're drunk!"

"To nobility!"

"To love!"

"YOU'RE DRUNK!" yelled the queen as she stood up from her chair and glowered over the company. "Relieve yourselves from my sight!"

Silence filled the hall as every watery eye turned to stare at the fuming queen. The knights silently placed down their goblets and began to raise themselves from the tables.

"No. Stay," said the king monotonously, staring at the queen.

"You let such disrespect into your company, your highness? That certainly isn't surprising, but I would appreciate it if you would keep such dishonor away from my house."

"Your house?" he laughed cruelly, wiping his mouth roughly, and adjusted the crown on his head as if in declaration. "Perhaps you have for gotten, Queen, but this house is mine! The only reason you live here is for treaty purposes. I've let you have your ways for too long. Sit down and don't distract me!"

Tears flooded the queen's eyes and she got up, walking away from the royal table which once again began to roar in laughter and drunken mirth.

--------------------------------

"Daniel? Danny, are you...alright?" A soft voice echoed somewhere above him in his state of sub-wakefulness._ Am I alive is the better question_, he heard another voice, quite like his own tell him.

He had been knocked unconscious, he was sure of that. How a ghost could become unconscious, he didn't want to think on it, but the drain of his spectral energy had done quite a number on him. He didn't recall much after he grabbed Tucker and Samantha in the free fall; it was all just as much of a blur as the falling rocks that accompanied them down to the bottom of the crevice. Perhaps he had phased through the ground or landed softly, as he planned to. Or maybe he had done neither at all and was in heaven, an angel calling him to wake up and face his judgement. That would definitely be interesting. That couldn't be, however, he noted, as he felt a discomforting twinge in his arm. It almost made him want to grab it and tear it off so that it would stop bothering him, but he barely had the strength to breathe. He felt little more than the discomfort and the ground below him, but knew someone was hovering over him and an earthly scent filled his lungs as he felt the silent breathing of a girl next to him.

He struggled to pull his eyes open, but found that to be much more difficult than he remembered. He felt a hand softly brush some of the hair away from his face, however, and the thought of someone touching him made his eyes snap wide open to see a shocked peasant girl looking down at him, clearly freezing, but not leaving his side. She gasped when she noticed that he had woken up and snapped her hand away from him.

"Y-You're okay?" she asked bashfully, looking away from him.

He didn't answer, possibly because he wasn't sure, but slowly propped himself up on his elbows, though doubting where he had gotten the energy to do so. He checked to make sure that he was still in his ghostly state, and found to either his disappointment or relief that he was.

His eyes suddenly traveled to a silver pendant hanging around her neck that had apparently slipped from her bosom. He reached out and grabbed it, observing the delicate letters S and P, intertwined with each other, engraved into it. He scowled and she snatched it from his fingers, tucking it back into her bodice."Where's that from?" he asked her, still barely awake.

"It belongs to me, if that's what you mean. It's a family heirloom," she snapped. "I'm not a criminal," she added shortly.

He pondered slightly and she impatiently said, "Well? Aren't you going to say anything else?"

The girl looked at him, waiting for a response as images flashed before his eyes reminding him of the preceding events. There had been the ghost, Sir Skulker, and then he remembered losing his sword, Tucker, then Samantha...

The girl suddenly sneezed and rubbed her runny nose. She was obviously getting sick. And how could she not? She had just suffered hypothermia.

He looked at her with a puzzled look on his face.

"What were you doing?" he asked her.

She returned a questioning expression. "Er...I...w-what?" she stuttered, not quite sure what he meant. "I was...watching over you. Are you alright?"

"Clearly," he said in a snide tone. "Better than you should be. I thought you were dead."

She blinked at him, feeling a rather unpleasant lurch in her stomach. He had said those words so casually that it made her feel disgusted with him.

Her facial expression mirrored her feelings and he raised his eyebrows. "Something wrong?"

"You're a wretch," she said as she got up and began to walk away.

"Hey, wait! Where do you think you're going?" he said, snapping his head in her direction.

"Away from you! _Clearly_ you're not worth any of my attention at all."

"Wait!" he said, shakily pulling himself to his feet, grabbing his sword which had been lying next to him, and struggling to shove it next to his belt.

Samantha stopped walking, though she wasn't sure why.

"Yes?" she demanded.

"Where's Tucker?" said Daniel simply as he slowly caught up with her.

"Urgh!" she screamed and stomped away from him furiously.

Daniel rolled his eyes and continued walking in her wake. After a while, he knew she was getting tired, especially since she had began to cough roughly into her fists from the cold, and she hadn't bothered to tell him to stop following her.

"You know, you're not getting very far," he told her.

"Maybe I would if you'd let me!" She sniffed. "Why can't you go away already, I don't want your stupid deal! For all I care, the prince could be dead already. So forget it! The deal's off!"

He snickered at her reddened face as she turned to snap at him and her expression fell.

"What are you laughing at!"

Daniel smiled, shaking his head. "You are certainly amusing."

"Amusing!" she yelped, taking a step toward him. "You drag me into your little game, I almost get killed, twice, and plus I've had to deal with your stupid attitude! And now -- " she sniffed again, " -- now I'm ill! Perhaps I'll die anyway. If _that's_ amusing to you, then good luck to you, because I'm not part of this any longer and as soon as...as Tucker returns from the gates, I'm going to...we're gonna...What are you doing!"  
As she was yelling, he had slowly walked toward her with a stern look on his face.

"Shut up," he whispered.

"What?" she snapped through a stuffy nose, searching the features in his face as his eyes wondered above her head. He had a pensive look on his face that was unreadable.

"Are you listening to me?" she told him, flustered.

"Can't you feel that?" he told her, looking down at her.

She shook her head. "Feel...what? Daniel what are you -- ?"

She sneezed and emitted a sound of surprise at the same as he forced her around by the arm and then let go of her, taking a step back so that she wouldn't freeze.

He hovered slightly above her instead and lowered his head toward her, however, and she blushed as he whispered in her ear, "Close your eyes."

She did not know what possessed her to obey him but for some reason she found herself in a position in which she could not disagree.  
She felt her eyelids drooping slowly and attempted to ignore the numbing feeling in her nose and fingers. Why did he have to be so cold?

"Now...listen for it," he whispered. Samantha knew that, if he were human, she would have felt his hot breath on her neck and the thought made her shiver more than the cold.

She had absolutely no idea what she was supposed to be listening for, however, seeing as there was absolute silence. Then, however, she felt something. Rather, imagined. Or did she taste it? She couldn't tell, it was the most peculiar sensation, but it was running through her body and up her spine like a field of energy. It wasn't pleasant at all, though, or was it? It couldn't be that it was neither, could it? But then what was it?  
She opened her mouth as if to say something and he regarded her closely until she sneezed again and he snickered.

"Ghosts," he said simply. "Many of them. You feel it, don't you? Alternative energy, or that's what they call it. I know you can sense it this time, just like me. Casper...it's a kingdom for refugee ghosts."

She looked at him and saw that his mouth had turned a bluish hue. "You knew this?" she said, tearing her eyes from his lips and toward his cold, green eyes.

He smirked and she finally came to and blushed furiously, jumping away from him.

"Is this a game to you?" she said. "Do you think it wise to use people as puppets to play a part of your little scheme?"

He continued to grimace as she fumed, not saying a word, and slowly landed back onto his feet.

"So this is it, isn't it? You planned this all along! You were going to have us bring you here so you could be safe from the Ghost Zone in Amity and have your way in Casper! There was no _warlok_ that killed you. – " there came another sniff, "– There is no_ sister_! You weren't even a knight, I bet! You...You must have stolen that sword or something and...and I bet you were a thief when you were alive. Hell, you're still a thief! You stole our trust! You don't even know where the prince _is_! I guess ghosts really are evil! And I thought I actually...that you...just...urgh!"

She panted heavily, unsure of what to do at this point. Her face was so puffy and red now, both from the cold and the anger that she looked extremely adorable to the prince, even if she was a danger to herself.

"Are you quite done?" he asked her, cocking up an eyebrow.

She looked at him dispicably, but nodded.

"Good. Because I was honestly starting to get a heacache from your stupidity, however clever you think it was."

Her eyes widened in rage and she was about to protest when he continued, "I'm not a knight, but this is my sword and I was killed by a warlock. I do have a sister and she does live in Casper. And that's the honest truth."

He passed her as he walked on, then turned around and added. "Oh, and...I do know where the prince is. Just so you know."

"Why should I believe that?" she said.

"You shouldn't," he said. "But it sure would be nice for you if it were, now, wouldn't it? Besides, you're sick. I need to get you somewhere where you'll be taken care of."

Samantha huffed and folded her arms gruffly, but walked on after him.

"I'm suprised you care. Why do you still need me anyway? Can't you just tell me where he is?"

"Of course not," said Daniel, laughing slightly. "We haven't reached the gates yet. And without an Amitytian escort who will pay witness to my doomed matrimony, for instance, to you, which you will so gladly recite for me, I can't get in."

That was a lie, of course. Even if he didn't have a witness to papers he would find a way in if it meant death. He still planned to heed Desiree's words, however. Besides, the girl did amuse him.

Samantha smirked as she walked beside him. "You've got yourself a problem, then."

He looked at her, scowling. "How's that?"

"I'm not Amitytian," she told him smugly as she folded her arms as if in foolish victory.

Daniel stopped short in his stroll and looked deep in though as she kept walking. He suddenly stuck a hand under his collar and pulled out a pendant, quite similar to the one that had seen on Samantha earlier except that it bore the letters D and P for Prince Daniel, ran a finger over it, and shook his head in humorous disbelief. It had belonged to his father and had been engraved for Daniel when it was passed down to him. There were only so many people that could get their hands on a piece as rare as that and as particularly branded. She turned around to look at what he was doing, but by then he had already tucked it back into his collar and she looked at him questioningly.

"You're not? Huh...interesting. Well you certainly aren't Caspirian either. Where_ are_ you from? Not Manson, I suppose, eh?" he asked her.  
She paled and did not respond. He stocked his chin thoughtfully and looked at her sparingly, but it was enough to pull the clues together. So much of it made sense to him now and for obvious reasons: her running away, the engagement, the bold attitude, the reason she hated the king so much...

A smirk appeared on his lips that Samantha did not notice. She kept her head bowed and walked on stubbornly.

"What is the deal with you anyway? As far as you're concerned, I'm just a peasant girl with strange ambitions. I'm not questioning your secret, am I?"

He continued to smile and replied, "No. But you have put me in certain uncomfortable circumstances in which I dare say you could have considered doing otherwise."

"Oh and I suppose I'm to blame for all of them? Face it, Daniel, everything we've been through, everything we've faced has been your responsibility! Whenever you've had the chance you could have changed back and -- "

He stopped dead before her with a scowl on his face that shut her up and said, "You are what you are and I am what I am. How about we leave it at that?"

She brushed the question away quickly as she paid attention to her running nose and he smiled.

What a peculiar girl, he noted, contemplating. Intriguing, almost. His mind swam with confusion, thoughts, and notes about everything that he'd heard about her. It took him a while to figure her out, of course, but not much longer that it took for her to do so of him.

She finally replied. "You know, it isn't not enough, Danny. Because what you are...you're dangerous. And you don't want to admit it," she said quietly.

He gritted his teeth in frustration and swung his cape around, walking away from her.

"That's alright then. Forget it. I'll find a way in myself," he snapped and left her behind.

"W-What? But..but you need me! And...and I'm sick! You can't just _leave_ me here!" she exclaimed as she ran after him.

He laughed to himself, unsure if she appeared more hilarious or pathetic.

"Ha! If you're gonna be that big a nuisance, I could just find a way in myself. Sure, it'll cost me, but rather that than listen to your mild annoyance and foolish accusations. Also, you aren't_ that_ sick. Tucker will be back any moment, you'll be just fine!"

She ran after him in his wake. "You're a real bastard, you know! I've honestly lost _all_ positive opinion of you -- "

"As I thought you did long ago," he added smugly.

" -- But there's one thing I just don't understand. Tell me, why make a deal at all?" she said and he turned around to face her, his face without expression.

He didn't answer, but smiled at her. "Why is the prince so important to you?"

His tone was low and demanding and she turned a slight shade of pink, knowing that he had evaded the question, but answered him anyway, "To get the king do tear down the Ghost Zone and stop capturing innocent spirits, of course."

His smile turned into a vicious smirk which scared her slightly. He considered keeping it to himself, the fact that he knew everything about her, but she was in the wrong territory; she should have walked away while she had the chance. "No one is that insane, to risk everything just for ghost rights. You could do that anyway. It's called a kingdom accord. If one ruler highly disagrees with the policies of a neighboring kingdom, they could declare a compromise for a treaty or war. That's what Capser did, anyway."

"And just how would I manage that?" asked Samantha, her face how burning bright red, wishing she hadn't asked. _He couldn't possibly..._  
"Interesting," he whispered, searching her panicked eyes and both his anger and respect growing toward her with every realization, "...this has deeper meaning to you, doesn't it? To prove yourself to your parents, to everyone, that you're not just a pretty little face, that you won't just settle for a marriage to the Prince of Amity. To show the son of an arrogant king who had caused you so much dismay, of all people, off as a prize. Why, your _highness_, Princes Samantha of Manson, that shouldn't be difficult for you at all," he said with one last defining grin.  
Her jaw dropped slightly and she felt herself weaken at the knees.

"You..Y-You...kn...knew?"

"Beg pardon," he said spitefully, "I wasn't aware there was another run-away princess stumbling about. You think I hadn't heard of you? Your name was marked on every parchment in the continent! You know, you should really watch what you say before it finally_ clicks_."

She didn't have the mind to make entire sense of what he said, she was too panicked. "Then you...then you planned all this? To...to stall?"

"What comes around goes around, princess," he sneered.

She began to breathe heavily as she stepped back and nearly fell over while he continued to smirk. She heard voiced in the distance and looked to her right to see the gates to the city come into view.

"You...you wouldn't turn me it!" she begged, looking miserably at him.

"No," he said in a hushed tone, "that would be too easy a leverage."

She shook her head in disbelief. He was going to turn her in. It had suddenly turned extremely cold, or at least she suddenly_ felt_ the cold, as if it was there before, but not to this extreme, and she began to cough severely. Her head began to ache painfully and she felt everything begin to fall apart around her as he stepped toward her and she attempted to hold herself up, but black patches appeared before her eyes and she fainted. The last thing she saw was the brutal glare of a vengeful phantom hovering over her.

Daniel glanced at her form with pity. He bent down on his knees and observed her. It was a shame that she fell apart so easily despite having such a strong will. His opinion of her swayed between admiration and trying desperately not to hate her. He brought his hand to her face and ran the back of his fingers across her soft face and she moaned as his cold tips slowly transformed into human touch. He sighed. She was a princess, she had meant to be married to him by her parents, but did he want to marry her, now knowing the truth about her? He had to admit, he was being extremely hypocritical, not that he admired his own secrecy entirely at this point. He remembered kissing the ghost that had taken her shape and wondered if she felt anything like that. He barely remembered it, though, being highly intoxicated by her song. His eyes did not leave her and he bent down tentatively, but then drew back. No, he couldn't touch her any more than he had already done so. He sighed and looked toward the gates. This would be too easy now. He lifted her limp form up into his arms tenderly and felt himself slowly begin to transform. If only there was another way...

It was the first time that he allowed himself to turn entirely human and he felt the sensation nostalgic. And while he felt incredibly weak from lack of food and sleep, he focused more on so many of the missed emotions that came with his human body and he looked sadly at the frail form of the girl in his arms, her chest rising and falling slightly to slow breathing patterns. She bore a scowl on her face and Daniel suddenly felt extremely guilty for everything he had put her through, including his taunts, the danger, the miserable interrogation, and now a heavy illness. How could he have been so cruel? He shook his head in shame and walked toward the guards, who had been talking to each other out of boredom and snapped to their formal positions as soon as they saw him approach, carrying the unconscious girl in his arms. It only took them a few moments to identify him as the prince, at which they stuttered and both bowed on their knees.

"Y-Your majesty! The Queen had ordered that we be on the look out for you at all costs, yet by no means did we expect to be honored by -- we mean -- you hadn't -- we thought -- "

"You will immediately escort me to the Queen, it is urgent that I see her. It is also necessary that you find care for this young lady, she isn't well at all, and I should like to know the whereabouts of a certain friend of mine who passed by here earlier. His name is Tucker."

The guards looked uneasily at each other, as if fighting between who should be the one to inform him of the circumstances. Finally, one of the guards spoke up and said, "I'm afraid not all of that can be done, your majesty."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he snapped, getting rather annoyed.

"The King had just returned today and he specifically said that the neither he nor the Queen be disturbed before he is ready to leave again."

"That's ridiculous, this is extremely important! I demand to see her at once!" said the prince.

"We will see what we can do, your majesty," said the guard. "In the mean time, we will provide you with the finest quarters in the kingdom.

The young lady shall be taken into care and, as for the man called Tucker, he was arrested for possessions of illegal weapons."

"Arrested?" said Daniel, who stifled a laugh. "Well then, unarrest him."

"Er...yes, your majesty," said the other guard quite bashfully.

Meanwhile, Samantha had heard the muffle of voices and wondered if she was dreaming. She opened her eyes ever slightly, as far as she felt she could, and realized that she was no longer on the ground but being carried by a man with raven hair and blue eyes. It couldn't be, but it was the prince, she knew. She was definitely dreaming.

Suddenly, he had stopped the conversation he was having with someone or other and looked down at her with a slight fear yet composure in his eyes.

Samantha attempted to stay awake long enough to ask him something, but felt herself being pulled into unconsciousness once more. Part of her wanted to feel disgusted at the thought of dreaming of being held by the prince, but another part of her had to admit...it was rather comforting.

Daniel had stopped talking to the guards when he heard Samantha moan slightly once more and looked down to see her eyes open slightly. His heart leap and he wondered if she would wake to find his true identity carrying her, but he reminded himself that she was extremely exhausted after hypothermia and then intense stress. The guilt in his heart rose once more and he saw her eyelids fall and her eyes close once more.

He carried her the entire time and protested against the guards when they offered him a hand, knowing very well that he would transform back into his ghostly half as soon as he let go. It was tempting, however, seeing as he was even weaker than he thought possible; his breathing had gotten heavy and he felt himself sweat as the ground began to spin beneath him. He needed to seek proper nourishment and rest soon, but first he had to make certain that the girl was taken into care. He warned the guards that no one else other than the queen was to know of the prince's arrival in a oath to the death, and they both swore their alliance to him.

The town was simple but lively, with an orderly market place that was busy in its trade and the first thing that Daniel noticed was that the things that he had identified as birds before, while they were flying over the mountains, were actually ghosts. In fact, as he hardly believed anything before he saw it for himself, the entire town was bustling half with ghosts and half with humans. It was an uncanny site and Daniel scowled at the foolish humans who allowed themselves to be in such close contact with beings that could easily deceive and destroy them. But would they really? It certainly didn't seem that way. There must have been some secret spell placed upon them, he concluded. He had remembered to wear his cloak over his head to hide his features, yet still received several stares himself as people responded to a hooded figure carrying an unconscious girl with two guards in the lead.

A kindly old woman noticed the travelers enter the marketplace and immediately came up to them, placing souvenir tokens around each of their necks. Daniel was about to object when he noticed that practically each of the inhabitants of the kingdom wore the same emerald gem around their necks, as if it were a symbol. He accepted it when he suddenly felt a severe numbness flee from him that he had been completely unaware of and the temperature of his surrounding seemed to rise by several degrees.

"What is this?" he inquired of the guards.

They laughed and one of them answered, "Ectoplasm, your majesty. Generates alternative energy. Repels the cold for us. Would have died out a while back if it weren't for it."

Daniel scowled and replied, "Strange, I've never heard of humans using it."

"No? Suggested by a ghost, Lady Penelope. Genius."

"You would trust a ghost with something like this?"

"Not like we have a choice, eh? Doesn't hurt, though. You don't seem to hold much of an opinion of ghosts."

"No, I don't," Daniel said quietly.

"Well," the guards laughed again, "you've got yourself a bit of a problem, then. This place has been crawling with them for months."

"So I've heard."

Once they had arrived at the tavern, however, he stopped his contemplations and knew that he couldn't hold Samantha forever and cursed himself once more that he did not know how to keep his human half stable. "Let me take her to her room and don't disturb her until she wakes. Also reserve a room for myself and Tucker. No one, I repeat, is to know of my arrival here other than the queen. Tell them what you must." The guards nodded, dumbfounded, and he disappeared behind the bedroom door. Daniel shut the door behind him quietly with his foot and carried her over to a sunlit bed with snow-white sheets. The room was extravagant, of course, and a the royal crest of Casper hung on the wall. He placed her gently onto the mattress and she sighed softly, her raven hair stark black against the sheets and the dirt on her face clearly obvious. He removed the hair from her face and smirked slightly to himself, placing the covers over her as he felt himself morph back into the solid shadow of a corpse. He shook his head in disgust and cursed silently. He thought of the guards outside, he would need to figure out a way to leave without showing them his alter ego; and he had not told them of Samantha's status either, of course. He felt no sense to betray her, considering all the horrible things he had already done to her, but felt that once this was over, she would have to find a way to explain for herself once more. He wondered if it was because he was back in his ghostly form that he felt less misery for her, but somehow failed to care. He secured the hood over his head and walked out of the room with his back to the guards. They witnessed him walk out but, before they had time to address his majesty once more, he had already vanished from sight.

Samantha stirred slightly in a very comfortable place that she identified as a bed. Hazy images of the raven-haired prince swam in her head and she wondered if it really only had been just a dream or reality. He reminded her so much of someone she knew, but she couldn't recall who it was. She remembered the phantom finding out her true identity and how angry he had been with her. Wait a minute, had he turned her in? Was she perhaps back in the quarters of her own palace, her parents anxiously awaiting her wake so that they could scold her for eternity? Or had the prince saved her from the phantom and brought her someplace safe? No, that couldn't be. She didn't even know where the prince was, nor did she really care.

"Are you awake, miss?" said a gentle voice and she opened her eyes to see a bright light coming from a beautiful window pane and a young maid standing over her. She had long blonde hair, blue eyes and wore a maroon dress. Samantha smiled and her and nodded.  
"Where...Where am I?" she said as she yawned, stretching as she rose slightly from bed.

"You're at the Royal Inn of Casper Kingdom, miss. You were brought there by a couple of palace guards on orders that we take the finest care of you -- "

"Who gave the orders?" said Samantha, scowling.

The maid froze as she was straightening the quilt and looked rather frightened to speak as she looked Samantha in the eyes. She then shrugged and said, looking away, "I am told not to question the monarchy, miss. By the way, miss, it seems your cold has died down, but not completely, so you'll need to stay in bed for a day or two and not wonder. Your fiance came here looking for you, however, and is waiting for you outside, by the way, miss. Tsk, such a shame really. Awful sorry he passed away. My name is Starlyn, by the way, miss. If you need anything, just let me know."

Samantha's eyes widened. Fiance? She didn't have a -- Wait a minute, _Daniel_? Had the guards saved her from him, or had he told her to bring here there? He could have just left her there. Or did he really plan to keep his promise? Oh how she wished she hadn't fainted! She hated not knowing what was happening around her.

"Shall I tell him to see you, miss?"

Samantha looked at her and pondered on it. "Er...of course, please do."

She was still baffled by the whole situation, and knowing he would walk in any second, she wasn't sure what she was going to say to him. Would he apologize? Would he explain at all? Would she? Decidedly not. She knew she had to get out of there as soon as possible before he could hold her secret over her head.

When Starlyn walked out, she quickly brushed her hair with her fingers, straightened her nightgown, and rubbed her eyes, sinking her back into the pillows and trying to look awake. Unaware of her own anxiety, she held her breath and waited for him to appear.

When the door opened, however, her eyes snapped toward it to see Starlyn walk back in, her head slightly bowed, and carrying a cup of tea. "Begging your pardon, miss," she said somberly, "but he just left."

Samantha attempted to neglect the fall of an unpleasant emptiness to the pit of her stomach, but failed miserably. Starlyn offered her the cup and she took it gratefully, however, and slowly sipped at the hot water.

"Did...he say anything? Where he was going? Will he be back?"

"I'm sorry, no," said the girl.

"What about a dark-skinned young man by the name of Tucker? Had you heard anything of him?"

"No, miss," she replied.

Samantha bore a sad expression and, as if knowing just how alone she was in her time of need, the maid took pity on her and added, "You should probably know, however, that your stay here is fully accounted for as long as you like."

Samantha's eyes looked to her in confusion. "Who would care for such a price?" she asked, astounded.

The maid looked at her tentatively, sighed heavily, and then said, "According to the palace guards, miss, and I'm not supposed to say, but that would be the Prince of Amity."

Samantha nearly dropped her cup.

**No one keeps their word these days, I tell you. And isn't Daniel just the arrogant little creep? I'm hoping I got the line between his human and ghost self across this time, though. In the next chapter, the trio is split up for the first time in the story and they each have their own bit of adventure, so expect at least 3 POVs next time. There's still so much to write to the story, though, that I honestly don't know when I'll find the time to do it all, but it is just so much fun that I'm glad I don't have to worry about ending it anytime soon yet. As a matter of fact, I've rewritten this chapter so many times and added so much to the story in my head that I can only imagine it's getting bigger and better. If not, then just bigger. **

**Please review, I'd really like to know if I should keep going with this! **


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